Appointment comes as Venezuela crisis deepens, NAFTA renegotiations begin, and region deepens global engagement
WASHINGTON, DC – The Atlantic Council today named Jason Marczak as the new Director of its Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center. He will lead the Center at a pivotal time for the future of Latin America and the region’s place in the world. One of Marczak’s immediate priorities will be the crisis in Venezuela.
Jason Marczak joined the Council in October 2013 as Director of its Economic Growth Initiative to help launch the Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center. Since its inception, Marczak has been at the forefront of setting the Center’s strategic direction, positioning it as the go-to reference for insight and impact.
Most recently, Marczak directed a four-country task force on Central America’s Northern Triangle with General John F. Kelly as the co-chair before he joined the Trump administration. Jason jointly oversaw a similar bipartisan effort on Colombia, co-chaired by Senators Benjamin Cardin and Roy Blunt. Marczak is a regular commentator, with appearances in hundreds of US and regional press outlets.
“Jason is a true innovator and policy entrepreneur who recognizes that in today’s world it can’t be business as usual,” said Frederick Kempe, Atlantic Council President and CEO. “With Latin America and the world overall in the midst of a profound transition, Jason’s appointment doubles down on our recognition that the future of the United States is very much tied to the future of our hemisphere.”
Business leader and philanthropist Adrienne Arsht—vice chair of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts; distinguished member of the Trustees Council of the National Gallery of Art; chair emerita of TotalBank; executive vice chair of the Atlantic Council; founder of the Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center; and, most recently, founder of the Adrienne Arsht Center for Resilience—established the Center to broaden understanding of the critical transformations occurring in Latin America and to provide policymakers with fresh insight on how to maximize the region’s increasing global ties.
With Jason, the Council has named a deeply respected scholar to be its new Director. He has an outstanding track record in leading the development of new initiatives and achieving concrete, quantifiable results,” said Arsht. “He can deftly navigate the policy and business worlds in the US and across the region to maximize policy impact.”
Under Marczak’s leadership, the Center will prioritize issues that extend beyond the borders of Latin America and will include a new set of global stakeholders in the region. This includes recent work on Chinese economic ties with the region. The Center (and the Atlantic Council overall) focus on high-impact work with concrete implications for policymakers, the business community and civil society.
Marczak notes, “Latin America is a key partner for the United States in security, in trade, and in solving top global challenges. With profound economic and political changes sweeping the region, our Center will work with those across the hemisphere to put forward the policy ideas that lead to long-term prosperity. We must seize this moment.”
Marczak will bring renewed focus and energy to engage around the most pressing issues in the region: Venezuela’s implosion; NAFTA modernization and trade; Cuba engagement; Central America’s prosperity; China-Latin America ties; Colombia’s peace process; Brazil’s transformation; women’s leadership; and energy’s future. In each area, the Center will seek to explore the global connections in the Latin American agenda. Jason replaces founding director Peter Schechter.
For more information, please email press@AtlanticCouncil.org.
More on Marczak
Jason Marczak has more than fifteen years of expertise in Latin American policy leadership and was previously director of policy at Americas Society/Council of the Americas and co-founder of Americas Quarterly magazine. His background also includes leadership of civil society engagement at Partners of the Americas as well as positions at the National Endowment for Democracy and in managing foreign affairs in the office of then-Representative Sam Farr (CA). Marczak is an adjunct professor at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs.
About the Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center
Launched in October 2013, the Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center is dedicated to broadening awareness of the transformational political, economic, and social changes throughout Latin America. The Center is focused on bringing in new political, corporate, civil society, and academic leaders to develop new ideas and innovative policy recommendations that highlight the region’s potential as a strategic and economic partner for Europe, the United States, and beyond.
For more information, visit atlanticcouncil.org or follow us on Twitter @ACLatAm and on Facebook.