Ana María Méndez-Dardón is the director for Central America at the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA). At WOLA, she leads the program’s research and advocacy efforts on issues of human rights, rule of law, democratic strengthening, judicial independence, and civil and political rights.

Prior to joining WOLA, Méndez-Dardón worked as special advisor with the UN-backed International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) where she addressed issues related to corruption, structural impunity, and peacebuilding. In 2013, Méndez Dardón was appointed as under-secretary of strategic and private affairs to Guatemala’s first female attorney general, Claudia Paz y Paz. In addition, as a Guatemalan Human Rights Lawyer, she has worked to strengthen access to justice and promote human rights in Central America with a range of civil society organizations including think-tanks and grassroots groups, the United Nations, and government institutions and has litigated strategic human rights cases before international bodies. 

Méndez-Dardón was an event speaker at the Dialogue.