Our Staff
Lee Schlenker
ACERE
Lee Schlenker is the Policy Director at ACERE and a MA candidate in Latin American Studies at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service.
Advisory Board
Alexander Main
CEPR
Alexander Main is director of international policy at the Center for Economic and Policy Research.
Vicente Amor
ASC International
Vicente Amor is a Tampa-based Cuban-American businessman who serves as Vice President of ASC International, a licensed provider of trade and travel services to Cuba.
James Counts Early
Cultural Educator
James Counts Early is a cultural educator and former Assistant Secretary for Education and Public Service at the Smithsonian Institution. He has a long history of working with Cuban cultural workers, especially within the Afro-Cuban community.
Angelica Salazar
Knowmadica
Angelica Salazar is the founder of Knowmadica Consulting and is currently communications lead at the New School's Tishman Environment and Design Center.
Merriam Ansara
Mass Peace Action
Merriam Ansara is the founder of Common Ground Education and Travel Services and chairs MAPA's Cuba Working Group out of Western Massachusetts.
Bob Schwartz
Global Health Partners
Bob Schwartz is the Vice President of Global Health Partners. He has more than 35 years of experience building support for Central American economic and social development programs, primarily in the area of public health.
Cindy Domingo
US-Cuba Women Collaboration
Cindy Domingo is a Seattle-based civil rights leader who is a past board president of the Center for Social Justice and chief of staff to a King County councilmember.
Elena Freyre
PazAmor
Elena Freyre was born in Havana, Cuba. She is president of the Foundation for Normalization of US-Cuba Relations and the founder and president of PazAmor.
Arturo Lopez Levy
Assistant Professor
Arturo Lopez-Levy is Assistant Professor of Politics and International Relations at Holy Names University, Oakland, CA. He is a political scientist and economist who specializes on International politics, comparative politics and economic development with a focus on Cuba and Latin America.
Manuel Gomez
Retired Federal Employee
Manuel Gomez, PhD, is a Cuban American occupational and environmental health expert who served as the president of the Cuban American Committee for the Normalization of Relations.
José Pertierra
Attorney
José Pertierra is a Cuban-American attorney based in Washington, DC. He specializes in immigration and international law, as well as on US-Cuba relations.
Leonardo Flores
ACERE
Leonardo Flores is a policy analyst who writes on Latin American politics and U.S.-Latin America relations, and he has served as an election observer in various countries in the region.
Medea Benjamin
CODEPINK
Medea Benjamin is the co-founder of the women-led peace group CODEPINK. She serves on the CODEPINK Board of Directors and has been an advocate for social justice for more than 40 years.
Samantha Wherry
Beloved Communities Incubator
Samantha Wherry is a Colombian human rights activist based in Washington, DC. She is Director of Operations at a local business incubator and holds an MA from the London School of Economics.
Natasha Lycia Ora Bannan
Human Rights Lawyer
Natasha Lycia Ora Bannan is a human rights lawyer who centers an anti-racist lens in her litigation and advocacy. She has written extensively about the principle of self-determination, democratic norms and gender justice.
Manuel Ramirez
UCONN
Manuel Ramirez a Cuban-American PhD Candidate in Sociology at the University of Connecticut. Born in Tampa, Manny researches migration and racialization in the Cuban diaspora.
Felix Sharpe Caballero
Project El Pan
Felix Sharpe Caballero is a Cuban- American public policy executive and former public administrator for the State of Michigan, most recently as Director of Behavioral Health Integration.
Michelle Ellner
Americas Policy Forum
Michelle Ellner is a Venezuelan-American artist and human rights activist based in Washington, DC. She earned her BA in international affairs from Paris-Sorbonne University.
Jorge Quintana
DC Board of Elections
Jorge Quintana is a Cuban-American attorney-advisor who formerly served as the vice chair of the Democratic National Committee's Hispanic Caucus and the executive director of the Center for Democracy in the Americas.
Sara Kozameh
UC San Diego
Sara Kozameh is Assistant Professor of History at UC San Diego. She holds a PhD in Latin American and Caribbean History from NYU and was previously a Postdoctoral Fellow at Princeton University.
Dr. Tamara Lee
National Lawyers Guild
Dr. Tamara Lee is an Assistant Professor of Labor Studies at Rutgers University. She is a long-time member of the National Lawyers Guild, and a member of the Cuba Subcommittee