Cory Matkovich

Cory Matkovich (they/them) serves as the Program/Project Coordinator for the Center for Victims of Torture’s IDREAM project, which works to support capacity development for human rights defenders in exile and their organizations.

They are a queer, niizh manidoowag (two-spirit) human rights practitioner with Anishinaabe roots. A proud member of the Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians, Cory hails from their ancestral lands of Bahweting (known as Sault Ste. Marie, MI), meaning ‘The Gathering Place.’

Cory is profoundly passionate about building a more ethical, equitable, safe, and compassionate world through human rights advocacy and action. Prior to joining CVT, they worked to facilitate peace and security education for youth in coordination with Nobel Peace Prize Laureates at the PeaceJam Foundation. Cory’s previous work has focused on the intersection of human rights and human security; it has included experiences such as coordinating programs for youth living with war trauma in refugee camps, grantmaking for human rights and disaster relief, and advocacy for human rights defenders and HRD networks.

Cory holds a Bachelors in Global & International Studies: States, Security, & Transnational Governance and Professional & Applied Ethics from Western Michigan University, as well as professional diplomas in the French language from the Université Catholique de Lyon and Forced Migration from the Refugee Studies Centre at the University of Oxford. They are working towards their Master of Human Rights in Conflict, International Security, and Diplomacy at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, where they study as a Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow and Joseph E. Schwartzberg Workable World Trust Fellow.

During their free time, Cory enjoys backpacking, hiking, baking, and spending time with their pets, Artemis and Luna.