Antonio L. Maciel

Antonio L. Maciel "is the Director at the US Justice Fund at the Open Society Institute (OSI). He has been at OSI since October 1996, when he joined the foundation to direct the Emma Lazarus Fund. The Lazarus Fund, a one-time, $50 million grantmaking program, which concluded its activities in 2000, was created by George Soros to assist immigrants affected by welfare reform. After the conclusion of the Emma Lazarus Fund, Mr. Maciel became the Director of Grantmaking and Program Development, overseeing the grantmaking strategies of OSI in the United States.

"In July, 2004, Mr. Maciel moved to Brazil to work on a special project for OSI, linking the OSI Angola Foundation to nonprofits, activists, and journalists in Brazil. In August, 2005, he returned to OSI-NY to become the Director of the US Justice Fund, where he supervises a staff of seventeen working on issues related to criminal justice, immigrants’ rights, women’s rights, racial justice, drug policy reform, civil liberties, and independence of the judiciary.

"Prior to joining OSI, Mr. Maciel was a program officer at the Joyce Mertz-Gilmore Foundation, with responsibility for the Immigrants’ Rights, Lesbian and Gay Rights, International Human Rights, and Environment programs. In addition to grantmaking, he has significant experience in the field of immigration, having worked as a staff attorney at the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project.

"Mr. Maciel was born in Guadalajara, Mexico. He earned his JD from Stanford Law School and a BA in Languages from the University of Delaware." 


 * Trustee, Migration Policy Institute