Joy Olson

Olson received her bachelor's degree in history from Trinity College and earned a master's in Latin American studies from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, following two years' work in community development in Honduras.

[citation needed] Prior to joining WOLA, Ms. Olson directed the Latin America Working Group (LAWG), a coalition of sixty non-governmental organizations working to promote peaceful and just U.S. foreign policy toward Latin America.

[citation needed] Olson's special expertise is in the area of military and security policy.

She co-founded the Just the Facts project, which makes information about U.S. military policy in Latin America publicly accessible.

For more than a decade, she has co-authored an annual study on trends in U.S. security assistance, including the recent report Waiting for Change.