Gimena Sánchez-Garzoli

"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."


 * Senior Associate for Colombia, Washington Office on Latin America