In her role overseeing diplomacy towards Mexico and Northern Triangle nations, Vice President Harris will lead a virtual roundtable at 10:00 am today with experts who will offer assessments and recommendations for the region.
Issues likely to be covered include the root causes of migration, humanitarian assistance, economic development, climate resilience, transparency, and good governance.
Participants include the following individuals – in addition to the Vice President and Ambassador Nancy McEldowney, National Security Advisor to the Vice President:
- Dan Restrepo is a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, an independent, nonpartisan policy institute. Restrepo served as the principal advisor to President Barack Obama on Latin America, the Caribbean, and Canada, serving as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Western Hemisphere Affairs at the National Security Council.
- Vicki Gass is Senior Policy Advisor for Central America at Oxfam and has been working on Central American social and economic justice issues since 1984, including local organizing in El Salvador.
- Andrew Selee has been President of the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan institution that seeks to improve immigration and integration policies through fact-based research, opportunities for learning and dialogue, and the development of new ideas to dress complex policy questions, since August 2017.
- Lisa Haugaard, Co-director of the Latin America Working Group, has led advocacy efforts on human rights issues and U.S. policy towards Latin America for a coalition of human rights, faith, labor and nongovernmental groups for over 20 years.
- Geoff Thale is the President at the Washington Office on Latin America, 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, working across WOLA’s multiple program areas.
- Carolina Herrera is Natural Resources Defense Council Manager of Green Finance and Climate Change. Herrera’s work focuses on clean energy and sustainable development in Latin America, particularly in Mexico and Chile.
- Jason Marczak is Director of the Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center. He joined the Atlantic Council in October 2013 to launch the Arsht Center and set the strategic direction for its Latin America work.