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
Alejandro Aguayo
Alejandro is the Compliance Officer for Race and Equality. In this role, he is tasked with reviewing organizational compliance policies, overseeing contract implementation and follow-up with contractors, as well as providing staff and consultants with training regarding procurement policies and procedures. Alejandro works closely with Senior Leadership, the Finance team and Programs to ensure effective organizational implementation of internal policies. Prior to this role, Alejandro was the Latin America Program Assistant at Race and Equality, where he provided logistical and programmatic support to the Race and Equality’s projects, as well as performing daily operational tasks for the Washington, DC office. He was also tasked with exploring new methods for improving the organization’s program impact and new development opportunities.
Before joining Race and Equality, Alejandro was an intern at the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, where he supported the Contracts and Grants department monitoring the implementation of various regional democracy projects, including some in Latin America and the Caribbean. Alejandro monitored federal compliance measures and supported the procurement of goods and services.
Alejandro has an M.A. in International Commerce and Policy in 2015 from George Mason University in Fairfax, VA and a B.A. in Global Affairs in 2012. His focuses on human rights violations, democracy, and economic development in the Americas. He has research experience in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, and his native country of Bolivia.
aguayo@raceandequality.org
Zuleika Rivera
Zuleika is the Senior LGBTI Program Officer and works with human rights defenders in Latin America to support and strengthen their advocacy capacity at the domestic and international levels.
Before joining Race & Equality, Zuleika completed the J.D. Distinguished Fellowship of American University Washington College of Law at Lesbianas Independientes Feministas Socialistas (LIFS), an Lesbian, trans, and bisexual (LTB) organization in Lima, Peru where she served as a member of its legal team and conducted workshops on LTB rights for Peruvian civil society. Additionally, she was a research assistant at the Academy on Human Rights and International Law and the Anti-Torture Initiative. Zuleika was an intern at the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL) and the Study for the Defense of Women’s Rights (DEMUS), among other NGOs.
Zuleika received her law degree from American University Washington College of Law, where she focused on human rights and gender. She also holds an M.A. in International Relations from the School of International Service of American University and a B.A. in Political Science and Public Affairs from Syracuse University. She is admitted to practice law in the District of Colombia.
rivera@raceandequality.org
Carmen Herrera
In her role, Carmen consults for Race and Equality’s Legal Program, seeking to strengthen the organization’s legal actions in favor of both individuals and collective groups.
Carmen is a trained attorney with a master’s in political sociology. In her previous role, she contributed to documentation and litigation strategies at the Mexican national system, as well as developing advocacy strategies towards the Inter-American Human Rights Protection System. Her work focused on populations facing structural violence and discrimination, collaborating with organizations supporting these groups. She has also carried investigative and training processes in relation to these topics.
She has been part of a number of human rights organizations in Mexico, including the Miguel Agustin Pro Juarez Human Rights Center (Centro de Derechos Humanos Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez) & Attorneys for Justice and Human Rights (Abogadas y Abogados para la Justicia y los Derechos Humanos), where she worked in the regional project “Discrimination by ethnicity and gender in the Americas: The case of Indigenous Women.” She has also been leading judicial inspector at the Supreme Court in Mexico City and directed the Justice and International Law Regional Office for Central America and Central Mexico. She has worked alongside the Inter-American Institute for Human Rights in training lawyers in Latin America to incorporate gender and race/ethnicity approaches to their legal advocacy for cases of violence and discrimination against women and discrimination against Afrodescendants, respectively.
herrera@raceandequality.org
