Ann Wright served the United States as a member of the State Department and an Army Colonel for over thirty years. She was given the Award for Heroism by the State Department for helping to evacuate the US Embassy in Sierra Leone, and was part of the effort to re-establish a US Embassy in Afghanistan in 2001.
Ann Wright publicly resigned in 2003 in opposition to the illegal invasion of Iraq as well as the Bush Administration's "lack of effort in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict" and has since actively promoted social justice. She was one of several current/former members of state and human rights activists aboard the Gaza Flotilla, a convoy of aid ships raided by Israeli soldiers in international waters. During this raid, Israeli soldiers killed 9 humanitarian activists, including six with point-blank gunshots to the head, in what the UN Human Rights Council called "summary executions".
On March 16th, Ann Wright will speak about the US relationship with the State of Israel as Bard College students participate in Israel Apartheid Week.