Journey Behind the Mission
In September 2018, Dr. Gulshan Abbas, a retired Uyghur physician, mother of two American women, and grandmotber of four, was forcibly disappeared by the Chinese government and later sentenced to 20 years in prison following a secret trial. Her story is one of countless families torn apart by persecution— but it is also a story of courage, perseverance, and hope.
What began as one family's fight for justice became a global call to action. Dr. Abbas story has brought together policymakers, human rights advocates, faith communities, and people around the world who believe that those persecuted should never be forgotten.
Founder and Board Chair
Ziba Murat
Ziba Murat is the founder of Gulshan’s Light Foundation, an organization dedicated to advocating for the release of the unjustly detained, freedom of victims of transnational repression, and the reunification of families torn apart by authoritarian persecution.
Ziba’s mission is deeply personal. Her mother, Dr. Gulshan Abbas, a retired physician and Uyghur, was arbitrarily detained by Chinese authorities in 2018 and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Since then, Ziba has devoted herself to advocating for her mother.
Through Gulshan’s Light Foundation, Ziba is transforming her family’s fight into a movement of hope, freedom, and family reunification.
Board Members
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Olivia Enos
Olivia Enos is a Senior Fellow at Hudson Institute, where she writes on a wide range of human rights and national security issues in Asia. She is also an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and a contributor at Forbes.
She previously worked as Washington Director for the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation, and before that as Senior Policy Analyst for Asian Studies at the Heritage Foundation. Enos received her MA in Asian Studies from Georgetown University and a BA in Government from Patrick Henry College.
Michael Sobolik
Michael Sobolik is non-resident senior fellow at Hudson Institute. He specializes in United States–China relations and great power competition with a focus on geopolitics, net assessments, and competitive strategies. He is the author of Countering China’s Great Game: A Strategy for American Dominance.
He served as a senior fellow in Indo-Pacific studies at the American Foreign Policy Council and legislative assistant to Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX). His commentary has appeared in the Washington Post, Bloomberg, Reuters, Foreign Policy, Politico, and Newsweek, among others. He has also appeared on PBS, BBC, Fox News, and other outlets.
Sarah E. Makin
Sarah E. Makin is a human rights advocate, filmmaker, and former U.S. government official with expertise in national security policy and international religious freedom. She served in the first Trump administration as Deputy Assistant to the President, Senior Director on the National Security Council, and Senior Advisor on International Religious Freedom, after earlier roles as Deputy Assistant to the President for Vice President Mike Pence and as a senior policy advisor on Capitol Hill.
She now runs a strategic advising firm in Washington, D.C., and produced the documentary A Faith Under Siege on the persecution of Christians in Russian-occupied Ukraine. Her work focuses on advancing human rights, defending religious minorities, and countering authoritarian repression.
Strategic Advisors
Tori Smith
Samantha McLean
Chelsea Sobolik
Tori Smith is Senior Vice President at the lobbying firm FTP and leads their trade practice. She has more than a decade of experience on tariffs, trade, and economic policy. Smith also wrote and provided policy recommendations to Congress on the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.
A former trade economist and Republican Senate advisor, she now guides companies through the most consequential trade era in a generation. Smith is proud to represent Gulshan's Light Foundation in Congress and with the Trump administration to work to bring Dr. Gushan Abbas home.
Samantha McLean is Senior Vice President at the lobbying firm FTP and leads the firm’s defense and national security work, having served over a decade in the United States Senate leading a policy portfolio related to national security and foreign relations. As the personal representative of the member (PRM) on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, she advanced measures relating to democracy, human rights, and sanctions.
McLean assists clients in securing wins in the National Defense Authorization Act and engaging with the Department of War and State Department. She is honored to represent Gulshan's Light Foundation and continue the important work of reuniting families of political prisoners.
Chelsea Patterson Sobolik is Director of Faith Partnerships at Stand Together, a philanthropic community that helps America’s boldest changemakers tackle the root causes of our country’s biggest problems.
She was previously the Director of Government Relations for World Relief, a global Christian humanitarian organization and the largest Evangelical refugee resettlement in the US. The organization was founded in the aftermath of World War II to respond to the urgent humanitarian needs of war-torn Europe and has served for 80 years, across 100 countries.