Hostage US will hold a daylong seminar in New York focusing on how organizations can effectively respond to kidnapping through family support and hostage reintegration.

Lisa Monaco, former Assistant to President Obama for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, will be the keynote speaker and will offer reflections on handling hostage cases from within the government and key take-aways from her experience. Lisa will be interviewed by David Rohde, Online Executive Editor of The New Yorker. 

Jason Rezaian was imprisoned in Iran for 544 days and released in January 2016. Now a columnist with The Washington Post, he is a leading expert on Iran and the issues that face the country and region. Jason will share his personal experiences of detention and rebuilding his life after his release. Drawing on this and his extensive knowledge of Iran, he will also discuss the current situation in Iran and the wider region and what this means for the hostages who remain.

The seminar will answer key questions facing those responsible for kidnap response with organizations from security, legal, HR and communications disciplines:

• What are my organizational and individual responsibilities and legal liabilities in relation to kidnapping? 
• How can my organization partner with the US Government in the event of the kidnapping of a member of staff or contractor?
• What does it feel like to experience a kidnapping first hand both as a family member and a hostage?
• How can my organization assist families in handling the psychological, legal and practical challenges during a kidnapping?
• How can my organization support former hostages in dealing with their return home and to work?
• What are the latest kidnapping trends? 

It will be held at Morgan Stanley in New York .

In order to maintain the privacy of participants, the seminar will be held under the Chatham House rule and will not be open to the media.