Maria Alexandra (Alex) Arriaga
Managing Partner
alex@strategyforhumanity.org
Alex Arriaga has served in executive leadership positions in The White House, U.S. Congress, and with top non-profit organizations. She has successfully advanced international human rights issues, created grassroots public education campaigns, and achieved legislative victories. She is a proven leader and strategist with a track record of success in local, national and global arenas.
Since 2009 Alex has served as a consultant, working with non-profit organizations to create and implement a customized path to success. She has helped identify their niche and chart their work forward; crafted effective advocacy plans to campaign on global issues; provided skilled political analysis and proven policy and legislative strategies; built broad and influential coalitions for high profile education drives; facilitated participation in congressional hearings and counseled groups on how to achieve legislative wins.
Her clients have included Georgetown University's Institute for Women, Peace and Security, Human Rights First, The International Development Law Organization, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Futures Without Violence (formerly The Family Violence Prevention Fund), Communications Consortium Media Center, International Center for Research on Women and Women Thrive Worldwide.
Alex held senior positions at Amnesty International USA from 2001 until May 2008, including as director of government relations and as deputy executive director for policy and advocacy. As part of the organization’s executive leadership, she served as a chief public spokesperson and expert on global issues; managed staff in three geographic localities and collaborated with volunteer leaders nationwide; developed major public education campaigns such as to address violence against women internationally and oppose the use of torture; and worked closely with the organization’s major donors. Under her leadership The Hill recognized Amnesty International USA for its exemplary human rights lobby in Washington.
In 1999, Alex was appointed to the White House as Senior Advisor and later as Chief of Staff to the President’s Special Envoy for the Americas Buddy MacKay and as Special Assistant to President William J. Clinton. In 1995, Alex was appointed as Senior Advisor in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor at the U.S. Department of State, working with Assistant Secretaries John Shattuck and Harold Hongju Koh. She served as Executive Director of Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright’s Advisory Committee on Religious Freedom Abroad, U.S. Delegate to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, and on the Department of State’s Bosnia Task Force.
From 1987 to 1995, Alex was Director of the bipartisan Congressional Human Rights Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives, chaired by the late Congressman Tom Lantos (D-CA) and former Congressman John Edward Porter (R-IL). During her tenure, she grew the Caucus to encompass a bipartisan majority, shed light on conditions in over 100 countries, and focused congressional attention on topics as diverse as religious and ethnic persecution, violence against women and girls, corporate responsibility, and rights of persons with disabilities.
At the local level, Arriaga is an active advocate for children with special needs. Her work to organize families and advocates for improved services was the focus of More Autism Training for Teachers, The Washington Post, April 27th, 2012. She is Co-Chair of the Special Education Advisory Committee for Arlington, Virginia; Member of the Autism Committee for Arlington Public Schools; and a Charter Member for Virginia’s first Special Education Parent Teacher Association. She contributed to a proposal that led the Virginia Department of Education to select Arlington Public Schools for a major 3-year grant to improve services for children with Autism and was appointed as a Member of the Implementation Committee led by Virginia Commonwealth University.
Arriaga has received several awards for her leadership and commitment to public service. She serves on the board of directors of a variety of non-profit educational, disability rights, and human rights organizations. She has published articles and is a frequent public spokesperson. She is bilingual and of Chilean and Spanish descent.
Since 2009 Alex has served as a consultant, working with non-profit organizations to create and implement a customized path to success. She has helped identify their niche and chart their work forward; crafted effective advocacy plans to campaign on global issues; provided skilled political analysis and proven policy and legislative strategies; built broad and influential coalitions for high profile education drives; facilitated participation in congressional hearings and counseled groups on how to achieve legislative wins.
Her clients have included Georgetown University's Institute for Women, Peace and Security, Human Rights First, The International Development Law Organization, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Futures Without Violence (formerly The Family Violence Prevention Fund), Communications Consortium Media Center, International Center for Research on Women and Women Thrive Worldwide.
Alex held senior positions at Amnesty International USA from 2001 until May 2008, including as director of government relations and as deputy executive director for policy and advocacy. As part of the organization’s executive leadership, she served as a chief public spokesperson and expert on global issues; managed staff in three geographic localities and collaborated with volunteer leaders nationwide; developed major public education campaigns such as to address violence against women internationally and oppose the use of torture; and worked closely with the organization’s major donors. Under her leadership The Hill recognized Amnesty International USA for its exemplary human rights lobby in Washington.
In 1999, Alex was appointed to the White House as Senior Advisor and later as Chief of Staff to the President’s Special Envoy for the Americas Buddy MacKay and as Special Assistant to President William J. Clinton. In 1995, Alex was appointed as Senior Advisor in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor at the U.S. Department of State, working with Assistant Secretaries John Shattuck and Harold Hongju Koh. She served as Executive Director of Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright’s Advisory Committee on Religious Freedom Abroad, U.S. Delegate to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, and on the Department of State’s Bosnia Task Force.
From 1987 to 1995, Alex was Director of the bipartisan Congressional Human Rights Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives, chaired by the late Congressman Tom Lantos (D-CA) and former Congressman John Edward Porter (R-IL). During her tenure, she grew the Caucus to encompass a bipartisan majority, shed light on conditions in over 100 countries, and focused congressional attention on topics as diverse as religious and ethnic persecution, violence against women and girls, corporate responsibility, and rights of persons with disabilities.
At the local level, Arriaga is an active advocate for children with special needs. Her work to organize families and advocates for improved services was the focus of More Autism Training for Teachers, The Washington Post, April 27th, 2012. She is Co-Chair of the Special Education Advisory Committee for Arlington, Virginia; Member of the Autism Committee for Arlington Public Schools; and a Charter Member for Virginia’s first Special Education Parent Teacher Association. She contributed to a proposal that led the Virginia Department of Education to select Arlington Public Schools for a major 3-year grant to improve services for children with Autism and was appointed as a Member of the Implementation Committee led by Virginia Commonwealth University.
Arriaga has received several awards for her leadership and commitment to public service. She serves on the board of directors of a variety of non-profit educational, disability rights, and human rights organizations. She has published articles and is a frequent public spokesperson. She is bilingual and of Chilean and Spanish descent.
