Tom Malinowski was born in Communist Poland during the height of the Cold War. When he was six, he and his mother fled to the United States, and grew up in Central Jersey.
 
Malinowski served as a Senior Director on President Clinton’s National Security Council where he worked to end conflicts around the globe. He then served as the chief advocate for Human Rights Watch, where he led the bipartisan campaign to end the use of torture by the Bush Administration. Later he served the Obama Administration as Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor where he helped lead America’s fight for human rights around the world.