Staff
Alejandro Velasco, Executive Editor
Alejandro Velasco is the Executive Editor at The NACLA Report on the Americas. He is a historian of modern Latin America whose research and teaching interests are in the areas of social movements, urban culture and democratization. His book, Barrio Rising: Urban Popular Politics and the Making of Modern Venezuela (University of California Press, 2015), couples archival and ethnographic research to examine how residents of Venezuela’s largest public housing community pursued full citizenship during the heyday of Latin America’s once-model democracy. Before joining the Gallatin faculty, Professor Velasco taught at Hampshire College, where he was a Five College Fellow, and at Duke University. Professor Velasco’s research has won major funding support from the Social Science Research Council, the American Historical Association, the Ford Foundation, and the Mellon Foundation, among others, and he has presented widely at both national and international conferences and symposia.
Laura Weiss, Managing Editor
Laura Weiss previously served as NACLA's Web Editor and Editorial Assistant. She holds a Masters’ degree from the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at NYU where she focused on U.S. policy in Mexico and human rights violations in the context of the drug war. Previously, Laura worked as the Latin American Rights and Security Fellow at the Center for International Policy. She has been published in The Nation, In These Times, World Politics Review, Latino USA, NACLA, TruthOut, and Huffington Post. She graduated from Oberlin College with a B.A. in Hispanic Studies and Comparative Literature in 2013.
Jacquelyn Kovarik, Web Editor/ Editorial Assistant
Jacquelyn Kovarik is currently a Foreign Language Area Studies Fellow at NYU, where she is studying Quechua and pursuing a dual Masters’ degree from the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at NYU and the NYU Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. Her research and reporting focuses on contemporary social change in Bolivia and Peru, with an emphasis on transitional justice and initiatives for well-being and resilience in Andean and Amazonian communities. She has written for Latino USA, the Latin American News Dispatch, Latino Rebels, The New Republic, and Bedford + Bowery. She graduated from Columbia University with a B.A. in Comparative Literature and Society and a Concentration in Latin American Studies in 2017.
Nestór David Pastor, Outreach Coordinator/ Editorial Assistant
Néstor David Pastor is a writer and translator from Queens, NY. He holds a BA in Spanish from Binghamton University and an MA in Spanish from Queens College. His writing and translations have appeared in Latino USA, The Nation, El Nuevo Día, 80grados, REMEZCLA, and OkayAfrica, among other publications. He is also an Associate Editor for Newtown Literary. His past experience includes working with NPR’s Radio Ambulante, the Center for Puerto Rican Studies, and Feet in 2 Worlds.
Heather Gies, at-large Editorial Assistant
Heather Gies is a freelance journalist who writes mostly about politics and human rights issues in Central America. Her writing has appeared in Al Jazeera, The Guardian, NACLA, National Geographic, and other outlets. Follow her on Twitter @HeatherGies.
Board of Directors
Thomas Kruse, Board Chair Program Director, Rockefeller Brothers Fund
Pierre LaRamée, Executive Director, Medical Education Cooperation with Cuba (MEDICC)
Marcial Godoy-Anativia, Managing Director, Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics
Jill Lane, Director, NYU Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS)
Christy Thornton, Assistant Professor, Johns Hopkins University
Alejandro Velasco, ex-oficio
Editorial Committee & Contributing Editors
Alejandro Velasco, Executive Editor
Emily Achtenberg
David Bacon
Dan Beeton
Michelle Chase
Nicole Fabricant
Hilary Goodfriend
Greg Grandin
Bret Gustafson
John L. Hammond
Judith Adler Hellman
Marisol LeBrón
Alex Main
Todd Miller
Joseph Nevins
Urayoán Noel
Dawn Paley
John Lindsay-Poland
Deborah Poole
Gerardo Renique
William I. Robinson
Fred Rosen
Christy Thornton
Kirsten Weld