Joy Olson, Executive Director, is a Latin America human rights expert who has directed non-governmental human rights organizations for more than a decade. A policy strategist and a partner in dialogue with U.S. policy and opinion makers in both Washington DC and Latin America, Ms. Olson has a long-standing commitment to promoting greater transparency in U.S. military programs in Latin America.  She co-founded the “Just the Facts” project and co-authored its three books on US military programs with Latin America. Her many achievements include campaign leadership to end U.S. government efforts to deport refugees who fled from civil war in El Salvador to the U.S.  She led NGO efforts to increase U.S. funding for Central American peace accords implementation and a successful advocacy effort to lift the ban on food and medicine sales to Cuba. Prior to joining WOLA as Executive Director, Ms. Olson served as Director of the Latin America Work Group (LAWG), a coalition of 60 non-governmental organizations working together to promote peaceful and just U.S. foreign policy toward Latin America. A published author in the Latin American human rights field, Ms. Olson did her graduate studies at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, following two years’ work in community development in Honduras. 

Geoff Thale, Program Director (formerly Senior Associate for Central America and Cuba). As Program Director, Mr Thale consults with staff about all of WOLA's programs, from the Southern Cone to Mexico. In addition, he directly oversees the Cuba and Central America teams at WOLA, including the Central America Youth Gangs Program. Geoff Thale has followed Central America issues since the mid-1980s, and Cuba issues since the mid-1990s. Before coming to WOLA, he was the founder and Executive Director of the El Salvador Policy Project in Washington, DC. He holds a Masters degree in Industrial Relations from the University of Wisconsin.

John M. Walsh, Senior Associate for the Andes and Drug Policy, directs WOLA’s work on the Andes related to strengthening the rule of law, promoting respect for human rights, and bolstering democratic institutions. Previously, Mr. Walsh served as director of research at Drug Strategies, a policy research group that builds support for more pragmatic and effective approaches to U.S. drug problems (1995-2003).  He also worked on the “Rethinking Bretton Woods Project” at the Center of Concern, an effort to forge consensus on ideas for reform of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and the international trade arrangements (1993-1995).   Mr. Walsh holds a masters degree in public policy from the Johns Hopkins University.

Gimena Sánchez-Garzoli, Senior Associate for Colombia. Prior to joining WOLA, Gimena was the US Representative for Peace Brigades International’s Colombia Project where she worked to ensure the political protection of more than 12 human rights organizations and three peace communities. From 1999-2004, Gimena served as Senior Research Analyst at the Brookings Institution-Johns Hopkins SAIS Project on Internal Displacement. The Project on Internal Displacement supported the mandate of the Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Internally Displaced Persons, Francis M. Deng.  In this position, she represented the Representative in Colombia and Sudan, as well as advocated for the human and humanitarian rights of internally displaced people in Latin America, Asia, Africa and the South Caucasus. Gimena formed part of a UN team which assisted the Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) in Southern Sudan in drafting a policy on the human rights of the internally displaced and served as Teaching Assistant for Dr. Deng’s course on global internal displacement at SAIS. From 1997 until 2004, Gimena founded and ran the SAIS Refugee Policy Forum, an organization that promoted awareness and discussion on the world’s refugees and internally displaced persons by periodically hosting conferences and discussions with experts in the field.  Prior to Brookings, Gimena worked on human rights concerns at various organizations, including the U.S. Committee for Refugees (USCR), American Red Cross, United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) and New York City Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs during the Rudolph Giuliani Administration.  She also served as a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Camp Sadako volunteer in camps for Guatemalan refugees in Mexico. Gimena holds a Masters Degree in International Law and International Economics from Johns Hopkins University SAIS. Originally from Argentina, Gimena and her family became displaced to Europe during the country’s civil war and subsequently moved to the United States.

Vicki Gass, Senior Associate for Rights and Development, has been working on Central American social and economic justice issues since 1984. For several years she worked with CISPES doing local organizing, fundraising, coordinating delegations, writing human rights reports and political updates in Washington D.C. and El Salvador. She holds two Masters degrees from the University of New Mexico, the first in Community and Regional Planning, and the second in Latin American Studies with a focus on economic development and gender.  Upon completing her degrees, she returned to Central America to work for Oxfam America and WOLA carrying out the post-Hurricane Mitch regional advocacy work from 1999 to 2001.  Returning to Washington DC to continue to work with WOLA, she established the Rights and Development program with its focus on trade issues and rural development.  From mid-2004 to mid-2006, she worked in Iraq with women on constitutional rights and advocacy

Adriana Beltrán, Senior Associate for Citizen Security, has been working at WOLA for more than seven years with the Central America Advocacy Training Program and the Guatemala Program. WOLA’s work on Guatemala seeks to promote the stipulations of the 1996 Peace Accords and to help establish a UN commission to investigate illegal armed groups, or clandestine groups. She also coordinated WOLA’s press work for the past four years. She holds a Bachelors degree in International Studies and Political Science from Loras College in Dubuque, IA. Before joining WOLA, she interned at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. 

Maureen Meyer, Associate for Mexico and Central America, directs WOLA’s Mexico work and handles general Central America-related concerns such as human rights and electoral issues. Before joining WOLA, Maureen lived and worked for five years in Mexico City, primarily with the Miguel Agustin Pro Juarez Human Rights Center. Prior, Ms. Meyer was an International Development Fellow with Catholic Relief Services in the Dominican Republic and she also served as part of the Mexico Country Coordination Group for Amnesty International USA (1998-2001). She has extensive experience working on human rights, trade, and development issues and has worked with various human rights and economic globalization networks in Latin America and internationally.  Maureen has an MA in International Development from American University and a BA in Anthropology and Spanish from the University of Arizona.

Lori Piccolo, Development Director, manages WOLA’s fund-raising strategies, including preparing proposals and reports for foundations and undertaking individual donor outreach.  Before coming to WOLA, she worked for People for the American Way where she was the Director of Development for Foundations and Corporations.  Ms. Piccolo has more than fifteen years of development experience working for a wide variety of non-profit organizations including the National Museum of Health and Medicine Foundation and Public Citizen, Inc.

Krystal Wubben, Director of Finance and Operations, holds a Masters Degree in International Education.  Prior to WOLA she lived and worked for five years in Central America at a study abroad program focused on social justice issues.  Each semester she would take students on experiential learning trips to Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Cuba.  Before that, she interned at Sojourners Magazine and spent her senior year of undergraduate study in Central America and the Middle East.

Luke Horner, Development Associate, works with the Development Director, assisting with all fundraising-related programs. He graduated with degrees in Political Science and Global Studies from Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, where he received the Wittenberg Global Awareness Award. Prior to joining the WOLA team, Luke interned for Witness for Peace and worked at The Underdog Café, a politically active coffee house in the eccentric town of Yellow Springs, Ohio. Most recently, he served in the office of US Senator Sherrod Brown. Luke has studied in Havana Cuba; Quetzaltenango, Guatemala; and Beijing, China. 

Ashley Morse, Program Assistant, works on WOLA’s Central American Youth Gangs, Cuba and Rights and Development programs.  Ms. Morse graduated magna cum laude from Brown University with a bachelor’s degree in Latin American Studies and Portuguese and Brazilian Studies.  Previously, she served as a research assistant at the Center for Latin American Studies at Brown University.  In the summer of 2007 she was a WOLA intern assisting with the Cuba and Central American Youth Gang programs.  As an undergraduate she studied abroad for a year in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where she also worked in investigative journalism, following issues of security and organized crime in Latin America.  She spent a year as an exchange student in Arequipa, Peru before beginning university.

Colin Smith, Program Assistant, manages the Sally Yudelman Internship Program and works on WOLA's Cuba and Security programs. Before joining WOLA, he coordinated a university study abroad program in El Salvador, living with students and helping facilitate their community-based learning experience. He also studied in Central America as an undergraduate student. Colin graduated summa cum laude with a degree in English from Boston College, where he was involved in managing a variety of local and international social justice initiatives.

George Withers, Senior Fellow, retired from his staff position on the House Armed Services Committee in February of 2003.  In the 25 years he worked on Capitol Hill, Withers worked as a legislative assistant, legislative director and press secretary for the personal office of a California Member.  He then worked as the press secretary to the House Armed Services Committee and as the Chairman’s spokesperson.  Subsequent to the change in House leadership, Withers handled several national security legislative and oversight responsibilities for the committee.  These included U.S. military issues in Latin America, Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC), military construction, military personnel, military counter-drug programs and the authorization of U.S. merchant marine programs. Withers holds a Master’s Degree in Legislative Affairs from the George Washington University, a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from the University of Massachusetts, and is a combat veteran of Vietnam. 

Coletta A. Youngers, Senior Fellow,and Associate with the International Drug Policy Consortium, is an analyst of international drug policy, human rights and political developments in the Andean Region of South America and of U.S. foreign policy toward the Andes.  She is co-editor of Drugs and Democracy in Latin America: The Impact of U.S. Policy  Ms. Youngers was the Director of WOLA’s Drug Policy Project from July 2001 to May 2004 and was a Senior Associate at WOLA from June 1987 to June 2003.  Prior to joining WOLA in 1987, Ms. Youngers was a project manager at Catholic Relief Services and on the editorial staff of Latinamerica Press/Noticias Aliadas, both in Lima, Peru.  She holds a Masters in Public Affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University. Ms. Youngers is also the author of a book on the history of WOLA, Thirty Years of Advocacy for Human Rights, Democracy and Social Justice (WOLA, 2005) and on the history of the Peruvian human rights movement, Violencia Política y Sociedad Civil en el Perú:  Historia de la Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos (Instituto de Estudios Peruanos in Lima, Peru, 2003).  She has published numerous book chapters, reports and articles on the impact of U.S. antinarcotics policy on human rights and democratization in the Andes, among other topics. (Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2005).

Connie McGuire, Fellow, initiated WOLA's Central America gang-related asylum project, partly in response to the many requests WOLA receives for expert testimony for gang-related asylum cases. Previous to the asylum project and on-going, Connie conducts research on Central American gangs in the D.C. area as a member of a transnational team of researchers looking at the gang phenomenon in Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras and the D.C. area. Prior to joining WOLA, Connie worked on the “USAID Central America and Mexico Gangs Assessment,” the first serious evaluation of the phenomenon to be produced by a U.S. governmental agency. Connie is currently a doctoral student in Anthropology at the University of California at Irvine. Ms. McGuire holds a Master’s degree in Latin American Studies from the University of Texas at Austin.