N. Lynn Hiestand

N. Lynn Hiestand is a retired partner of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. During her almost 30-year tenure at Skadden, she helped develop the firm's Corporate Restructuring Department, transforming the practice from a litigation-based practice to one that takes a multidisciplinary, transactional-oriented approach to addressing challenges faced by distressed companies. She focused on the international aspects of restructuring, as well as advice to senior management on all facets of operating within a restructuring environment.

Lynn retired from the firm and in 2011 moved to Iraq to serve first as Legal Programs Director and then as Iraq Country Director for Heartland Alliance International. Heartland is a human rights organization that works in several countries around the world to serve the needs of marginalized populations. It has been working in Iraq since 2004 to strengthen the rule of law and human rights protections by providing legal, mental health and other services to vulnerable Iraqis throughout the Kurdistan Region and Southern Iraq. In addition to her board service, her most important job is caring for three young grandsons and elderly mother.

Currently, Lynn is a trustee for JUSTICE, a London-based law reform and human rights charity, working to reform the UK justice system with a focus on the most vulnerable and marginalized. Lynn is a founding director and president of Common Threads Project Inc., whose mission is to help women heal from the enduring psychological effects of sexual and gender-based violence in the context of war and displacement. Common Threads Project focuses on building local capacity through training, launching scalable interventions, and promoting efficacy research.

Lynn graduated from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service and Georgetown Law Center.