Washington Office on Latin America, Inc.
Advocacy for Human Rights in the Americas
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Colombia
Colombia has suffered the longest internal armed conflict in the region. Even as peace negotiations proceed, human rights abuses and mass displacement continue. Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities, as well as human and labor rights activists, bear the brunt of violence. At the same time, the country continues to be Latin America's largest recipient of U.S. military assistance. WOLA advocates for a negotiated end to the conflict, a shift away from U.S. military assistance, and for human rights and social justice policies that are essential for a lasting peace.
Cuba
A new era in United States and Cuba relations has begun. The process of normalization represents an historic shift that will be complex and take time. Lifting the U.S. trade embargo and other restrictions in U.S. law will require congressional action. WOLA advocates for policies of engagement to continue to open up trade, travel and diplomatic cooperation, and improved human rights on the island.
Mexico
WOLA’s work on Mexico looks behind today’s headline stories of drug violence and immigration. Our years of experience with in-country partners gives us unique expertise to address the way the historic weakness of Mexico’s democratic institutions contribute to today’s problems.
WOLA works to expose the causes of violence on the border and elsewhere, and to address the lack of development that fuels migration. We monitor U.S. security assistance to Mexico, seeking to steer funding priorities toward reform for an effective legal system, police that citizens can trust, and security officers who are held responsible for their actions. WOLA provides support to Mexican organizations seeking justice for victims who have faced human rights violations.
South America
WOLA has a long history of working on South America. WOLA's commitment to analysis and advocacy that promotes human rights, social justice, and democracy was forged in response to the coup d'etat in Chile in the early 70's and the military dictatorships that prevailed in that era.
Today, WOLA tackles a variety of issues throughout the region. Here you will find analysis of the political landscape in Venezuela, transitional justice issues, and hemispheric relations in general.
Citizen Security
Latin American countries face some of the highest rates of crime and violence in the world. WOLA works for comprehensive reform that addresses the root causes of violence and ensures effective, accountable police and judicial systems. With partners in the region, we advocate for reforms that protect both the rights and the security of citizens.
Drug Policy
The U.S.-led "war on drugs" has failed to suppress illicit drug production or trafficking, while harsh drug laws have led to human rights abuses, overcrowded prisons, and threats to democratic institutions. WOLA advocates reducing the harms caused by both the drug trade and by harsh drug policies. Across the hemisphere, we work for drug reforms that protect human rights and public health.
Migration and Border Security
WOLA monitors the security situation along the U.S.-Mexico border, overseeing the U.S. security presence and exposing the border buildup’s often unseen consequences and costs. We work to increase awareness about dangerous U.S. deportation practices, the large number of migrants who die in the desert, and the challenges faced by local and state authorities in the identification and preservation of remains. WOLA is a leader in calling attention to Mexico's southern border and migration enforcement as the United States increasingly relies on Mexico to deter Central American migrants seeking refuge from the violence in their home countries. We propose policy alternatives that will protect migrants’ rights, prevent deaths, and ensure that efforts to enhance border security are measured against the reality of the situation on the ground.
Defense Oversight
WOLA challenges the expanding role of the military in foreign and domestic policy making. We support accountable civilian control of defense forces, a clear separation between police and military functions, and peaceful collaboration to reduce threats and resolve conflicts.
Where we work
Awards
Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award 1987
Institute for Policy Studies
Award for Excellence in Non-Profit Management 2009
Washington Post
Premio Internacional de Derechos Humanos 2009
Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship
Great Places to Work 2013
Washingtonian Magazine
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
WOLA's programmatic goal is to end violence, advance human rights, and help create more just societies in the Americas. Within that goal, we have three objectives. The first objective is to reduce violence, crime, and homicides in the Americas. The second objective is to see greater accountability for human rights violations. The final programmatic objective is to seize opportunities that may arise for historic impact in this arena.
Our institutional goal is to build our institutional capacity to position WOLA as the leading research and advocacy organization advancing human rights and social justice in the Americas. Here too we have three objectives. The first institutional objective is to strengthen WOLA's strategic communications capacity so that our analyses, advocacy, and outreach have greater impact. The second is to sustain an annual revenue stream from diverse sources that maintains WOLA's current staff size while allowing for strategic investments in our programs and institution. The third is to find and retain top quality staff.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
We have defined the following strategy to reduce violence, crime, and homicides in the Americas. We will aim to:
• Contribute to the institutional reform of police and criminal justice systems, with a focus on Mexico and Central America.
• Support Colombia's peace process.
• Promote more effective and humane drug policies.
• Find cross-border strategies that strengthen state responses to organized crime.
• Promote policies to address the root causes of migration.
To see greater accountability for human rights violations we aim to:
• Promote transparency and accountability of security forces.
• Support local human rights organizations.
• Work with local organizations on institutional government reforms that support accountability.
• Encourage U.S. support for institutional reforms.
• Promote migrant rights and decrease abuses during deportation practices.
• Support intermestic efforts around the rights of migrants in transit.
• Encourage the U.S. to address human rights violations at home.
To seize opportunities for historic impact we aim to:
• Advocate to end the U.S. embargo of Cuba and normalize relations between the two countries.
• Help close Guantanamo as a detention center by facilitating the resettlement of detainees in the Americas.
To build WOLA's institutional capacity we aim to:
• Build WOLA's brand.
• Continue to grow our press presence.
• Create a digital media plan for the strategic use of social media and new technologies.
• Expand our collaboration with artists and cultural worlds.
• Improve our rapid response capacity.
To sustain a diverse annual revenue stream we aim to:
• Build individual giving program to over $1 million by investing in research and bolstering major donor cultivation.
• Make WOLA products donor-friendly.
• Build our institutional relationships with major foundations and European governments.
• Grow fundraising capacity to enable WOLA to acquire major long-term gifts.
Finally, to find and retain top quality staff we aim to:
• Recruit new staff to support program areas and the management team.
• Provide staff with more competitive compensation packages.
• Provide opportunities for professional growth.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
WOLA's expertise centers around our ability to conduct research and use it for advocacy. Our research is based on first-hand information from the Americas. We collaborate with partners—advocacy organizations, academics, religious leaders, artists, entrepreneurs, and government officials—to provide information about human rights conditions, their cases, and pragmatic policy solutions. Our staff travel regularly to the region to speak to victims of abuse and their advocates in civil society, as well as government officials and members of the international community. We also gather information from counterparts in Washington, including foreign embassies, civil society partners, multilateral institutions, the U.S. Congress, and many different offices within the U.S. Executive Branch. We also work closely with the press, using what we know to facilitate further research by reporters.
We pair the information we obtain with our own expert analysis to advocate for policies that will advance human rights and social justice. Much of our advocacy happens in person in Washington. We meet regularly with the entities listed above to educate them about particular aspects of human rights in the Americas and the impact that certain policies do or would have on the situation. We propose solutions based on the recommendations of our partners—the people affected by the policies—and work with like-minded individuals and institutions to devise and implement effective strategies to create change. We use the same strategies with Latin American governments, often channeling international public opinion or pressure by our U.S. government allies to give leverage to our local civil society partners' own advocacy.
We can educate a broader community through public speaking, events, and written materials. We provide congressional testimony and speak at hearings on Capitol Hill and elsewhere, give talks in academic settings, and hold many public panel discussions featuring our partners who have traveled from abroad. We create written materials as well, including short analysis and commentary pieces and longer research reports, to disseminate online, through email lists, and directly to our government interlocutors and the press.
The latter is part of a larger communications strategy which in recent years has become a hallmark of WOLA's work. Our in-house communications team also uses traditional and social media to educate and place pressure on our advocacy targets. We inform public debate by engaging with reporters and editorial boards in the U.S. and foreign press on an ongoing basis. Proactively we use press releases, info-graphics, or interview footage to disseminate background information on stories we expect to break soon. We also respond quickly to press inquiries when those stories do break, with quotes and analysis. In this way we are often able to introduce information and topics into the conversation that would not otherwise get any attention.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
WOLA has a rich history of policy successes that extends back to 1974. In the 1970s WOLA helped draft the landmark Harkin Amendment that prohibited U.S. military aid to governments that abuse human rights, as many South American dictatorships did at that time. In the 1980s we provided essential support for the peace accords in El Salvador and issued the first major report documenting human rights abuses by the Nicaraguan Contras. We supported transitions to democracy in the 1990s, including by exposing the abuses of the Fujimori regime in Peru. We also played a key role in garnering congressional and White House approval of large-scale emergency aid to Central America after the devastating Hurricane Mitch.
In the early 2000s we succeeded in shifting U.S. aid for Colombia, Mexico, and Central America away from military assistance and toward economic and social development programs. We also helped create the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (Comisión Internacional Contra la Impunidad en Guatemala, CICIG) and then secure the extension of its mandate years later, so that it could go on to expose endemic corruption at the highest levels—including in Guatemala's presidency.
WOLA also brought attention to the socio-economic factors driving unaccompanied youth migration from Central America to the United States that year, and worked with policymakers to ensure that the U.S. federal budget for 2016 included historic levels of foreign assistance funding for the region, conditioned on compliance with human rights standards, and civil society participation and oversight. We also brought attention to the Mexican government's failure to comply with similar conditions, resulting in the withholding of part of the foreign assistance agreed upon under the Merida Initiative.
Our decades of work to promote engagement between the United States and Cuba paid off in 2014 when the two countries agreed to reestablish diplomatic relations and ease restrictions on travel and commerce.
Finally, the drug policy dialogues we have organized for years incubated a policy debate within the Americas to the extent that Latin America is now a leading force in the global movement to rethink the war on drugs. Discussions at the United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) meeting on drug policy in 2016 demonstrate the high level of the debate.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Washington Office on Latin America, Inc.
Board of directorsas of 10/03/2022
Mr. Steven Bennett
Nancy Belden
Belden Russonello Strategists LLC
Bill Garcia
Thompson Hine
Louis Goodman
School of International Service
Diego Luna
Canana Films
Janice O'Connell
Gephardt Government Affairs
Alex Wilde
Center for Latin American and Latino Studies, American University
Sally O'Neill
Robert Varenik
Open Society Justice Initiative
Darryl Chappell
Freddie Mac
Leonor Blum
Adelante Latina
Patricia Weiss Fagen
Georgetown University
Marlene Johnson
NAFSA: Association of International Educators
Cheryl Morden
Jay SchwartzCoffey
EarthJustice
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No