Joel Hernandez

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

ABOUT JOEL HERNANDEZ

I was born in Honduras, an exceptionally beautiful country, blessed with countless natural resources and the most amazing people — but in the present it is among the most violent countries in the world. Its homicide rate is the highest in the world, more than twelve times the world average. About 20 Hondurans are killed every day, 365 days a year. We know that a few words cannot summarize and fix our world but deliberate actions can contribute to a better Honduras. It was for the sake of taking action that I worked the past three years as a lawyer at a nongovernmental organization, The Association for a More Just Society (AJS), an organization dedicated to fighting corruption and violence in Honduras. I demonstrated responsible leadership when I served as an attorney in AJS’s Anticorruption Legal Assistance Center project, where I worked closely with prosecutors — plus, I led and helped with the investigation of some of the biggest corruption cases in Honduras’ history. I’ve worked hard to ensure convictions for individuals who were involved in these corruption cases — cases that have helped to instill a greater sense of hope among Honduran citizens by demonstrating that justice can prevail over corruption. During my period as Deputy Coordinator of the Alliance for Peace and Justice, I’ve been part of the team that presents important policy proposals to the government. This advocacy work has led to significant policy changes. For example, three years of advocacy for changes to police training have led to significant improvement. In the past, police officers were trained in three months, and now, with our proposal, they are given a more comprehensive 11-month training. We’ve also done tireless advocacy to reform the fundamental laws government the national police force, in or order to have a better police force that can confront the violence in Honduras.