Staff

Erik Sperling is the Executive Director of Just Foreign Policy. He has worked as Senior Adviser and Counsel in the offices of Congressman Ro Khanna and Congressman John Conyers. He has a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Sarah Burns is a Senior Fellow with Just Foreign Policy where she is responsible for building and maintaining strategic relations with board members, donors and other key partners. She helps support JFP campaign and advocacy efforts to advance progressive foreign policy goals and has been involved with Just Foreign Policy since 2008.

Sarah has a background in public affairs, lobbying, and public advocacy, and currently lives in Los Angeles, CA, where she has been a Director at Planned Parenthood, the Women’s Foundation of California and the Institute of the Environment at UCLA.

Julia Ellings graduated with an MPhil degree in Russian and East European Studies from Oxford University in 2021. She previously worked as a legal assistant at Picard, Kentz and Rowe LLP, where she worked on the longest-running trade dispute between the US and Canada.

Hadiya Afzal executes Just Foreign Policy’s digital organizing campaigns and advances policy efforts on the Hill.

Hadiya has been involved in Just Foreign Policy’s work since early 2021, when she began to contribute digital assistance to the organization’s Yemen campaign. Hadiya’s political advocacy experience includes time in both the U.S. Congress and European Parliament. 

Liz Bajjalieh is the Advocacy Campaigner for Just Foreign Policy, where she manages congressional outreach by assisting senior staff in advancing policy efforts and building relationships with Hill offices.

Previously, she worked with the American Friends Service Committee and Friends Committee on National Legislation. In these roles, she lobbied, educated, and advocated on peace and human rights policies related to Yemen, Palestine, and Iran. She is also the current Lead Organizer for Chicago Area Peace Action’s Palestinian Human & Civil Rights Campaign.

Megan Iorio handles Just Foreign Policy’s administration and finances. She was previously Just Foreign Policy’s Organizing Director.

Megan has been involved in Just Foreign Policy’s work since 2008, when she began to contribute research, writing, and technical expertise to the organization’s campaign to prevent a U.S. war with Iran. Her other work includes investigating human rights abuses in the West Bank as a Palestine Works Fellow at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Jerusalem.