WASHINGTON, D.C. – The James W. Foley Legacy Foundation announced today that it has named to its board of directors Sarah (Levinson) Moriarty, one of the seven children of Robert “Bob” Levinson, the longest held hostage in United States history.
Moriarty was a relentless advocate for her father who was first taken captive in Iran in 2007. She and her family built relationships across government and private industry, with other hostages and their families, and with the United Nations Human Rights Council that ultimately resulted in credible information pointing to her father’s death while in captivity earlier this year.
A bill named for her father, the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act, is currently pending in Congress. It would formalize and strengthen government procedures for handling the cases of Americans held hostage and wrongfully detained abroad.
The Foley Foundation was created in 2014 to honor the legacy of James Foley, a conflict journalist who was captured and beheaded by ISIS in Syria in 2014. The foundation is dedicated to improving the safety and treatment of independent journalists working in dangerous areas, advocating for the freedom of all Americans kidnapped and wrongfully detained abroad, and improving U.S. hostage policy.
“Sarah’s deep desire to bring home American hostages and to provide support to their families, who face vast challenges, makes her a welcome James W. Foley Legacy Foundation Director,” said Diane Foley, mother of James and founder and president of the foundation. “We are very pleased to have her and to harness the experience she gathered during the very difficult time of her father’s captivity.”
Moriarty brings to the board a 20-year record of success spanning multiple industries. She currently serves as Director of Capability Building and Workforce Optimization at Novartis Pharmaceuticals, where she is a member of the Extended Leadership Team in Global Program Management.
“Having experienced the powerful partnership of The Foley Foundation firsthand, I know how important their work is to hostages and their families. I am so honored to be a part of the Board of Directors, where I will continue the fight in Jim’s name, and in my father, Bob Levinson’s name,” Moriarty said. “Now I fight for Siamak and Baquer Namazi, Austin Tice, Majd Kamalmaz, Mark Frerichs, Morad Tahbaz, Victor and Cynthia Liu, Paul Whelan, Tomeu Vadell, Jeffrey Woodke and too many other Americans unjustly held and their families.”
She graduated summa cum laude with a degree in communications from the University of Central Florida, and has an M.B.A. from the Crummer School of Business at Rollins College. She lives in a small town in New Jersey with her husband and two young children.
About the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation
James W. Foley was an independent American conflict journalist who worked extensively across the Middle East. He was taken hostage by ISIS in Syria in 2012 and was killed in 2014. His impact on colleagues and friends has been highlighted in the award-winning documentary film “Jim: The James Foley Story.”
The James W. Foley Legacy Foundation is a registered nonprofit foundation that advocates for the freedom of all Americans held hostage abroad and promotes the safety of journalists worldwide.
For more information about the foundation, or to learn how you can make an impact, please visit www.jamesfoleyfoundation.org or contact Amy Coyne at amy.coyne@jamesfoleyfoundation.org.
