Staff and Board

USOC Staff

Kelly Nicholls Email

Executive Director

Kelly is a long time human rights advocate, having worked for numerous non-governmental organizations on issues related to minority rights and displacement since 2003. She worked for the United National Independent Expert on Minority Issues, Gay McDougall, in Washington DC during 2006. She also lived and worked in Mexico with the Fray Bartolome de las Casas Human Rights Center (FRAYBA) in Chiapas, and was a human rights campaigner and researcher with the Network of Kichwa Communities from the Amazon (RECOKA) in Ecuador. Most recently, she has been living in Colombia and working as a human rights researcher and advocate on Afro-Colombian and displacement issues with several non-governmental organizations including COHDES. Kelly has also researched the African Palm Oil industry in Colombia and its links with the illegal armed actors and related human rights and environmental abuses. Originally from Australia, Kelly has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication and Journalism from the Charles Sturt University. She also holds a Graduate Certificate in Forced Migration and Refugee Studies from the same institution. In addition, Kelly has two Masters degrees from Bradford University in the UK – one in International Conflict Resolution; the second, a Masters in Philosophy. She also holds graduate certificates in Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law from the Washington College of Law and in Internal Displacement and the Formation of Public Policies from Colombia’s National University.

Diana Arango Email

Program Officer

Diana has a bachelor degree in Political Science from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia; she also holds a masters degree in Area Studies (Comparative American Studies) from the Institute for the Study of the Americas, University of London. Diana has focused her research on coca cultivation in Colombia and in particular on alternative development programs. Diana’s masters dissertation “Security, Development and International Cooperation: the Colombian Case” focused on the changes of the assistance programs for development after the 9/11 attacks. Prior to working with the US Office on Colombia, Diana interned for Drug Policy Alliance in New York, and coordinated schools of human rights and political system for young men and women of Ciudad Bolivar in Bogotá.

2008 Board of Directors

• Gustavo Torres / CASA de Maryland, Inc.
• Tara Carr-Lemke / Share Foundation
• Robert Guitteau, Jr.
• Eric Olson / Human Rights Consultant
• Charlie Roberts / Colombia Human Rights Committee
• Ingrid Vaicius / Center for International Policy
• Coletta Youngers / Washington Office on Latin America
• Adam Isacson / Center for International Policy

Website Staff

Tony Figoli Email

Tony Figoli serves as the Art Director at Oregon Design Collective--a company he founded in 2004. He holds a BA, with a Fine Art concentration, from Bard College. Since completing his studies in 1993, Tony has worked in the graphic design business focusing on print and web design, as well as programming and web management. In previous lives, he was a taxi driver, house painter, shingler, musician, dishwasher, roofer, sign maker, newspaperman, and typesetter. His many skills are now put to use in the design of beautiful and accessible web-sites for various local and national non-profits, policy organizations and artist collectives. Send Tony an email for a consultation about how to improve your organization's website.

A gay pride flag flies in Bogota's Plaza Simon Bolivar. Photo courtesy of Proyecto Colombia Diversa.

The U.S. Office on Colombia is an independent non-profit organization, not affiliated with any political party, that seeks to educate U.S. policymakers, the media and the U.S. public about the impact of U.S. policy on Colombia.