Mouaz Moustafa shares his experience as an advocate on behalf of the pro-democracy movement in his native Syria. He explains story behind his viral Instagram photos of Senator John McCain’s meeting with Syria's moderate opposition.

Mouaz was born and raised in Damascus, Syria before moving to the United States as a teenager. He is currently the Executive Director for the Syrian Emergency Task Force (SETF) and serves on the Government Relations Committee of the Coalition for a Democratic Syria (CDS).

Moustafa spent four and a half years working in Congress before leaving to work briefly with Egypt’s US-based opposition and later with the Libyan Revolution. He has also worked to implement projects for the US State Department and the UK’s Foreign Office, including civil defense and police training, and workshops on the rule of law and transitional justice.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx