The Aspen Institute

In 1988, my family immigrated to the United States to escape the Salvadorian Civil War—a conflict between the military-led government and the left-wing guerrilla groups—with the hope of a better future and to pursue the American Dream. While desperately hoping for peace, fleeing El Salvador which is currently known as murder capital of the world, was my family’s only avenue to leave a country filled with conflict, repression, and economic devastation. As a first-generation Salvadorian student, I was faced with many challenges but I did not allow that to destroy my hope for a better education. Three decades later, I currently have the privilege and the honor to serve this country as an analyst for the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Criminal Investigative Division in Washington D.C. I am currently a graduate student with George Mason University’s Conflict Analysis and Resolution program. In the post-9/11 world, conflict analysis and resolution holds an increasing relevance to both law enforcement officials and policymakers. Today, I have the opportunity to work for an organization that is dedicated to eliminating transnational organized crime groups, I have the chance to help stop corruption and violence from transnational organized criminals who pose a threat to our Homeland and National Security. Disrupting and dismantling these groups who constantly seek to obtain political power, influence, and financial gains, I have the opportunity to make real social transformation for the benefit of the global community. Growing up in a community filled with violent crime, my dream was to become a future leader, and lead the way to a peaceful community. As an undergraduate student in Los Angeles—the gang capital of the nation—the closest thing to ‘crime prevention’ was to pursue Sociology with an emphasis in Criminology and Criminal Justice. As a volunteer for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and LAPD’s Community Relations Office, I had the privilege to see how law enforcement officers participated in resolving conflict in my own community. Meanwhile, drawing on Sociological theories helped me to become a critical thinker, and to understand social harmony and conflict in various complex situations. In 2011, I felt an overwhelming sense of pride about being the first generation in my whole family to attend and graduate from a university. At that moment, I knew in my heart someday I wanted to pursue my graduate education, and become a well trained, highly skilled scholar-practitioner with a passion for peacekeeping, and solving conflict in a constructive manner. Selected to participate in the 2018 Aspen Security Forum.