Lina María Velásquez
Lina is a junior researcher in the line of research and advocacy activities against racist police violence in Colombia. She is a Sociologist from the Universidad del Valle.
Before joining Raza e Igualdad, Lina was a research assistant at the Universidad del Valle in the Ethnic-Racial Studies and Labor Studies research group in its different social components in projects related to affirmative action, higher education, and job placement for Afro-descendant populations. and indigenous women, processes of economic strengthening and social leadership of indigenous women, internationalization and characterization of Colombian Universities and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) of the United States.
Lina has participated in the Afro-descendant Foundation for Social and Sexual Diversities SOMOS IDENTIDAD in activities related to training processes from a gender and ethnic-racial approach, in activities to accompany and disseminate affirmative actions for the Afro-descendant population in higher education. She was a scholarship holder of the Martin Luther King program carried out by USAID, Embassy of the United States and Colombo Americano. In 2017 she participated in the School for Advanced Studies in Ethnic-racial Inequalities: dialogues between Africa, America and Europe at the Universidad del Valle.
investigacioncali@raceandequality.org
Jesús Fragozo Caro
Jesús is in charge of executing communication actions to advocate on human rights issues in Latin America. He also supports the implementation of Race and Equality’s communication strategy.
He is a social communicator and journalist from Barranquilla, Colombia. Previously, he coordinated the communications area of a Colombian NGO that fights for the rights of LGBTI+ people, and was the facilitator of a pilot project that created a model for the Colombian Police to prevent and improve attention to cases of gender-based violence.
He has worked in media and human rights organizations that address issues of gender, internal armed conflict, and peace agreements.
commslatam@raceandequality.org
Yanitza Sánchez Batista
In this role, Yanitza works to design and implement innovative programs to build the capacity of human rights activists in Latin America.
Yanitza initiated her legal path by working as a lawyer in Cuba, mainly focusing on civil law, criminal law, and disputes. She also practiced law in Ecuador, working as a legal advisor for the local Government of Pichincha (GAP) in Quito. Her work focused on enhancing law to protect people’s rights in a human mobility context, designing local immigration public policies, and developing advocacy strategies towards the local and national level institutions. She also actively participated in constructing the Organic Law on the Human Mobility process in Ecuador. Continuing her legal career in the U.S., she was part of the Human Rights Clinic (HRC), in Miami Law’s Human Rights Program, as a student fellow to gain experience in human rights litigation and advocacy at the local, national, regional, and international levels.
Yanitza has a law degree from the “Oscar Lucero Moya” University in Cuba. She received her second law degree, an LL.M/J.D. in International Law from the University of Miami School of Law in Florida.
sanchez@raceandequality.org
Fernando Goldar
Fernando is a consultant for the Latin America Legal Program at Race and Equality.
Before joining Race and Equality, Fernando worked as a legal consultant for various non-governmental organizations in Latin America. In Argentina, Fernando was Chief of Staff and Legal Advisor to the Secretary for Human Rights in the Buenos Aires province, where he designed and applied public policies on human rights and represented the province before international human rights protection mechanisms. Fernando has extensive experience on migration and refugee issues, international criminal law, and litigation before the Inter-American Human Rights System. Fernando has also served as an intern at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and at the Center for Justice and International Law.
Fernando graduated as a lawyer from the University of Buenos Aires Law School. In addition, he holds a Master’s Degree in Fundamental Rights from the University Carlos III of Madrid. Fernando has taken many courses and certificate programs on economic, social and cultural rights, as well as development, migration and refugees.
legalconsultant@raceandequality.org
María Luisa Gómez
María Luisa is a consultant for the Legal Program for Latin America of the Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights. She collaborates with strategic litigation actions before the Inter-American Human Rights System (IAHRS) and the Universal System, implementing, together with allied organizations, the legal strategy, advocacy actions and strengthening the capacities of partners in the assigned country.
Before joining Race and Equality, Ma. Luisa worked as a lawyer responsible for strategic litigation in the Program for Central America and Mexico of the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL). She also worked as a professor of legal anthropology and criminology at the Universidad Austral de Chile, and as a researcher at the Center for Environmental Studies and Sustainable Human Development of the same university (CEAM-UACh).
Ma. Luisa graduated as a lawyer and social anthropologist from the Complutense University of Madrid, Spain. She has a master’s degree in Economics, as well as specializations in ESCER and the rights of indigenous peoples from the University of Chile; in international cooperation and migration from the Rey Juan Carlos University of Madrid, Spain, among others. She is currently pursuing a Masters in International Human Rights Law at the United Nations University for Peace (UPEACE).
gomezcomi@raceandequality.org
Elliot Anderson
Elliot is one of the Latin America Program Assistants. In his role, he works closely with Program Officers to facilitate, administrative, logistical, and programmatic support for Race and Equality’s projects and the Washington D.C. office.
Prior to joining Race and Equality, Elliot was completing an M.A. in Latin American Studies at Georgetown University. While studying he completed a capstone study on the Chilean Constitutional rewrite in the context of other contemporary constitutional rewrites in the region in partnership with the Chilean organization Observatorio Nueva Constitución. While studying he interned with Guatemala Solidarity Project, an organization advocating for indigenous peoples’ rights in Guatemala. Before attending Georgetown, Elliot graduated with a B.A. in International Relations with Honors from Hendrix College in Arkansas.
anderson@raceandequality.org
Noelia Maciel Benítez
In this role, Noelia coordinates at the local level the internship project for the empowerment of activists in Latin America. Noelia also supports Race and Equality’s capacity building actions for effectively implementing the Inter-American Convention against Racism, Racial Discrimination, and All Forms of Intolerance (CIRDI) in Uruguay.
Noelia is a human rights defender of the Afro-descendant population of the Americas with more than twenty years of experience. She has worked on building capacity for political advocacy and advocacy in civil society organizations. At the same time, she has experience working with the Inter-American (OAS) and International (UN) System for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights.
Noelia is a Popular Educator certified by the Franciscan Multiversity of Latin America with several Human Rights certifications with a Diploma in Race Relations and Social Inclusion of the Afro-descendant population. She is an independent consultant in Human Rights, Afro-descendants, and Public Policies with experience in Public Management and project management.
maciel@raceandequality.org
Julia Dellasoppa
Julia works in close contact with local partners in the region to strengthen their legal capacities to denounce human rights violations before the Inter-American and the Universal Human Rights Systems. Moreover, in her role as Legal Program Officer, she also cooperates with the legal team in the strategic litigation of cases before human rights mechanisms.
Prior to joining Race and Equality, Julia was affiliated with the American University Washington College of Law as a visiting scholar. At AUWCL, she also coordinated the Initiative on Transparency and Election Monitoring at the Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law. In the U.S., she worked as a “Rómulo Gallegos” legal fellow and consultant for the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Previously, in Argentina, she served as a public defender representing women victims of gender-based violence. Moreover, as a researcher, she participated in several projects sponsored by the University of Buenos Aires and dedicated to the study of the impacts of climate change on vulnerable populations.
Julia has a J.D. from the University of Buenos Aires and an LL.M in International and Comparative Law from the University of California- Los Angeles.
dellasoppa@raceandequality.org
Johanna Villegas
Johanna oversees the successful implementation of programming in the country assigned. It includes aiding in the coordination of the overall strategy for the country, designing and implementing programs to build the capacity of human rights activists in Latin America through training, research, advocacy, and strategic litigation.
She previously worked as a consultant for the Women’s Human Rights Institute, where she trained indigenous women to defend their rights in the Inter-American human rights system. She was also director of the Free Legal Clinic at Universidad San Francisco (Quito, Ecuador), representing victims of human rights violations before national and international bodies. She taught public international law and clinics at Universidad San Francisco’s Faculty of Law. She has been a consultant and Fellow at the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights, a consultant at the United Nations office in Ecuador, and a consultant for various civil society groups in Latin America.
Johanna received her law degree from Universidad San Francisco, an LLM in International Human Rights Law from the University of Notre Dame, and a master’s degree in international relations from the Latin American School of Social Science (FLACSO).
villegas@raceandequality.org
Getye Dagne Mulat
Getye directly reports to the Executive Director and performs all day-to-day financial transactions, as well as preparing the organization’s periodic financial reports.
Getye has over 20 years of work experience in the field of accounting and financial management. Before joining Race & Equality, he worked at a publicly-owned enterprise, a coffee plantation development corporation, and in his own professional consultancy firm in Ethiopia.
Getye received his B.A. in Accounting from Addis Ababa University/Ethiopia, as well as a professional certification from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) in the United Kingdom (UK).
mulat@raceandequality.org
