Dr. Robert Russell founded Cartoonists Rights Network International in 1999. Dr. Russell’s lifelong commitment to human rights and dignity began as a Peace Corps volunteer in the 1960’s. He went on to spend over two decades in Africa and Asia as a consultant in institutional development and humanitarian assistance. In 2012 the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists presented Dr. Russell the Ink Bottle award, for his outstanding contributions to the profession of editorial cartooning.  After twenty years as CRNI’s Executive Director Bro retired to an emeritus position on our board in 2019. When he’s not working on furthering CRNI’s mission and influence, “Bro” (as his friends and colleagues call him) is an enthusiastic student of the American Revolution and is equally interested in the technical and human implications of space flight.

Matt Wuerker is the editorial cartoonist and illustrator for POLITICO where he also edits a weekly round-up of cartoonists’ work. Mr. Wuerker’s Op Ed illustrations are syndicated by the Tribune Syndicate and NewsArt.com. His cartoons have also been published in journals ranging from The Nation and The American Prospect to Z Magazine and Funny Times, and including major papers like the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, and The Christian Science Monitor. Winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for political cartooning, he sits on the boards of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonist and the Herb Block Foundation. He assumed presidency of our board in 2020.
We thank him for designing our logo.

Terry Anderson is a professional cartoonist and caricaturist. For more than fifteen years he produced comics and illustrations for The Glasgow Herald and for two decades has been co-ordinator at the Scottish Cartoon Art Studio. In 2014 Terry organized an international cartoon exhibition on the  Scottish independence referendum – The Auld Acquaintance – that was shown in six venues around Europe. The Scottish Cartoon Art Studio’s Fizzers® caricatures were the subject of a ten year retrospective exhibition at The People’s Palace & Winter Gardens, Glasgow in 2016/17. A former student of The Kubert School of cartooning, Terry is a member of the Professional Cartoonists’ Organisation (UK), France-Cartoons and Cartoon Movement. He previously served on the executive committee and ultimately as President of the Scottish Artists Union, the trade union for all visual artists working in Scotland.  He is frequently asked to broadcast, speak publicly and lead workshops on the subject of cartooning.

Carl Nelson is president of NEI Communications, Inc., a Massachusetts-based public relations firm specializing in technology products and services. He is the founder and Executive Director of the Cartoon Art Association, as well as being an associate member of the National Cartoonist Society and the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists, and a trustee of the Meland Foundation. Mr. Nelson has also been responsible for creating promotions for charity sponsorships that have raised more than one million dollars for the USO and the Fisher House Foundation.

Mr. Kowsar is an Iranian exile living in the Washington DC area and the 2001 recipient of CRNI’s Courage In Cartooning award after his cartoons led to jail time in Tehran. He is also a four-time winner of the Crystal Pen and Honorary Diploma award from the Iranian press. An experienced broadcaster, researcher and film-maker, he is a frequent contributor to Persian-language media and an expert on geology, sedimentology and water management. In 2017 he received a further four-year prison sentence in absentia from the Islamic Revolutionary Court.

Joel Pett is a nationally syndicated cartoonist and winner of the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for political cartooning. He has also received the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for outstanding coverage of the disadvantaged, and the 1995, 2007, 2010 and 2011 Global Media Award for cartoons on population issues.
In addition to serving as president of CRNI’s board of directors for a decade, Mr. Pett is a former president of the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists and served on the board of MyBillofRights.org, the Bill of Rights Monument Project. Joel has been the editorial cartoonist at the Lexington Herald-Leader since 1984.