Our mission is to advance human rights and social justice in the Americas.
Our staff are leading experts on Latin America
Joy Olson
Executive Director
Joy Olson is a leading expert on human rights and U.S. policy toward Latin America. She has served as WOLA’s executive director since 2003. Under Ms. Olson’s direction, WOLA has grown in size and impact, and has pioneered new approaches…
Geoff Thale
Program Director
Geoff Thale is the Program Director at the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), a leading research and advocacy organization advancing human rights in the Americas. He follows hemispheric trends as well as U.S. policy toward the region, and works…
Kristel Muciño
Communications Director
Kristel Muciño is WOLA’s Communications Director. She gives direction to WOLA's institutional and programmatic communications to maximize WOLA's advocacy efforts. She works with staff to develop communications strategies to enhance the organization's programmatic and fundraising goals.
Adriana Beltrán
Senior Associate for Citizen Security
Adriana Beltrán leads WOLA’s Citizen Security Program, focusing on violence prevention, and police and judicial reform in Central America. In addition to her work on citizen security, Ms. Beltrán has worked extensively on human rights and organized crime, particularly in…
Adam Isacson
Senior Associate for Regional Security Policy
Adam Isacson joined the Washington Office on Latin America in 2010 after 14 years working on Latin American and Caribbean security issues with the Center for International Policy. At WOLA, his Regional Security Policy program monitors security trends and U.S.…
Maureen Meyer
Senior Associate for Mexico and Migrant Rights
Maureen Meyer directs WOLA's Mexico program with a special focus on analyzing U.S.-Mexico security policies and their relation to organized crime-related violence, corruption, and human rights violations in Mexico. She promotes justice for human rights violations in Mexico and also…
Gimena Sánchez-Garzoli
Senior Associate for the Andes
Gimena Sánchez-Garzoli is the leading Colombia human rights advocate at the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA). Ms. Sánchez is an expert on internally displaced persons, refugees and human rights, and her work has shed light on the situation of…
John Walsh
Senior Associate for Drug Policy and the Andes
John Walsh has coordinated WOLA’s Drug Policy program since 2003, in support of more humane and effective drug policies in the Americas. Respected for his combination of careful policy analysis and effective advocacy, Mr. Walsh has helped establish WOLA as…
Jo-Marie Burt
Senior Fellow
Jo-Marie Burt is a senior fellow at WOLA specializing in Peru. She teaches political science at George Mason University, where she is currently acting co-director of the Center for Global Studies. Her research focuses on political violence and state power,…
David Smilde
Senior Fellow
David Smilde is a senior fellow at WOLA specializing in Venezuela. He is the Charles A. and Leo M. Favrot Professor of Human Relations at Tulane University and moderates the WOLA Venezuela Politics and Human Rights blog. His research focuses…
Coletta Youngers
Senior Fellow
Coletta Youngers is a leading expert on international drug control policy and drug policy related developments in Latin America. She has over twenty years experience working on human rights and political developments in the Andean Region and U.S. foreign policy…
Elizabeth Leeds
Senior Fellow
Elizabeth Leeds is a senior fellow advising WOLA’s work on citizen security and human rights in Brazil. She is a leading expert on police reform and other issues of citizen security in Brazil, having conducted extensive research and field work…
We help to create impact both in Washington and throughout the Americas.
Partner
We partner with courageous people throughout the Americas to identify urgent human rights problems.
Research
We bring decades of expertise to analyze these problems and propose concrete policy solutions.
Advocate
We advance human rights by combining cutting-edge communications and advocacy strategies.
Impact
By changing policies we create lasting impact for human rights and social justice in the Americas.
