Name Geoff Thale | ||
Geoff Thale (WOLA) - Access to Information as a Human Right
Geoff Thale is the Program Director at the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), overseeing WOLA’s research and advocacy on Latin American policy and human rights issues.
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He has traveled to Cuba more than thirty times and studied Cuban issues since the mid 1990s, including organizing delegations of academics and members of the U.S. Congress. Coordinating WOLA’s advocacy group on the issue, Thale works with a coalition of business, agricultural, and human rights groups in favor of lifting the travel ban and repairing relations between the US and Cuba.
Education
Thale received his Bachelor’s degree in both English and Education from Beacon College and his Master’s degree in Industrial Relations from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Career
Prior to working on Latin American issues, Thale taught high school for nine years. Later, he was the founder and Executive Director of the El Salvador Policy Project in Washington, D.C., before coming to WOLA in 1995. The Project followed the negotiations to end El Salvador’s civil war and the construction of post-war institutions.
While continuing to work on Cuba, Thale also follows police reform and works with counterparts in Central America on community-based responses to youth violence. Additionally, he serves as an advisor to the Central American Coalition for the Prevention of Youth Violence. Frequently called upon for background and analysis, Thale has testified before Congress on a variety of issues and has published on citizen security, U.S.-Cuba relations, and Central America.