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David Schilling has worked at ICCR since 1994 and is Program Director of Human Rights.
A United Methodist minister and the son of missionaries teaching in Korea, he grew up in Wisconsin. He credits a year studying at The American University in Beirut with giving him a global perspective. When he returned to the U.S., he began to work against militarism, the Vietnam War, racial inequality and economic injustice. He met and listened to Martin Luther King and Malcolm X; he worked closely with Cesar Chavez building support within the religious community for the farm workers struggle for justice while serving as a minister in northern California. He co-directed the disarmament program of Riverside Church in New York City and was program coordinator of the Fellowship of Reconciliation-USA.
David's position with ICCR has continued this work. He has pushed for corporate accountability on issues of human and labor rights in the contract supplier system. He has participated with ICCR members in delegations to China, Central America, Indonesia, Mexico, Thailand, Turkey, Vietnam, visiting factories and meeting with workers.
He sees the corporate responsibility movement as key to fighting systemic injustice, and ultimately, "influencing the influencers" to do the right thing. "There is impatience with the way things are, while recognizing that patience is needed to bring about change," he said of his work.
He is a regional advisor to the Institute for Human Rights and Business, chaired by Mary Robinson, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. David was a member of the Independent Monitoring Working Group for six years which supported independent monitors at Gap supplier factories in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala; a member of President Clinton's Anti-Sweatshop Task Force and the Global Reporting Initiative's Working Group on the Apparel, Footwear Industry.
David has a bachelor's degree from Carroll College in Wisconsin in religion and sociology; a masters of divinity from Union Theological Seminary; a graduate of the International Fellows Program, Columbia University and an advanced professional studies certificate from Pacific School of Religion.
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