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Sean Mariano Garcia joined Refugees International in 2006 and has conducted missions to assess the situation for Iraqi refugees throughout the Middle East, internally displaced people in Colombia, and forced migration from Zimbabwe throughout southern Africa. He has been working on Latin American affairs since 1996, and began his career at the Washington Office on Latin America. From 1999 to 2001, he was the Executive Director for the Cuban Committee for Democracy, a Cuban-American organization dedicated to encouraging a peaceful transition to democracy on the island. From 2002 to 2006, Sean served as the Senior Associate for Mexico policy at the Latin America Working Group. During his tenure there, he spearheaded work on violence against women in northern Mexico, judicial impunity and scapegoating in the Mexican judicial system. He directed the organization’s work on Immigration Reform and Border Security, with a focus on human rights violations against migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. Sean also worked in electoral politics in Miami, Fl., where he directed a campaign to provide domestic partnership benefits to all city employees in Miami Beach, and also worked to protect Miami-Dade County’s sexual orientation non-discrimination law from repeal. A Cuban-American native of Miami, Sean received his Master’s degree from George Washington University in International Development. He is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese. | 