Carlos Ponce

Carlos Ponce "is founder and director of Consorcio Desarrollo y Justicia or “Development and Justice Consortium” and several other not-for-profit human rights, democracy, and social development organizations in Latin America. He has been an advisor to more than 47 NGOs in Latin America, the Caribbean, and the United States since 1992, and is currently promoting the creation of an effective Latin American and Caribbean Network for Democracy. He has worked for companies, government, universities, congress, international institutions and human rights and environmental organizations.

"In the 1990s, Mr. Ponce worked as an advisor to the Ministry of the Presidency of Venezuela, Executive Secretary of Venezuela’s National Human Rights Commission, and as an advisor to the Venezuelan Congress, the Ministry of the Family, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Venezuela’s National Park Institute. He has been a professor at the Universidad Central de Venezuela, a professor at Universidad Catolica Andres Bello, and a lecturer at Tufts University. In 2003, Mr. Ponce received a Fulbright Scholar Award. He was also selected for the European Union Special Visitor Program, the Department of State Visitor Program, World Bank Scholarship, the Deans List for Academic Achievement, and several other awards and honors in Latin America. He has been invited as a guest speaker to conferences organized by presidents and former presidents of the Americas and invited to share his ideas with numerous institutions worldwide.

"Mr. Ponce has extensively researched, analyzed, and written about the phenomena of Latin American political behavior. As an activist, he has been promoting human rights and democracy for more than 20 years; in terms of legislation, he has written bills that have been introduced in the Venezuelan Congress and enacted into law. Among different statutes and laws, he is co-author of the Justice of the Peace Law that democratized access to justice in Venezuela. Some of his human rights, justice, and environmental recommendations are now part of the Venezuelan Constitution.

"Mr. Ponce holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Law from Vermont Law School, a Master of Arts degree in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning from Tufts University, a JD from the Andres Bello Catholic University, and is currently in the dissertation stage of his PhD program at Northeastern University."

• Steering Committee, World Movement for Democracy