The World Justice Project (WJP) is pleased to announce that WJP Mexico Country Office Director Alejandro González Arreola has been named the global organization’s next Chief Engagement Officer. In his new Washington-D.C.-based role, Alejandro will build, strengthen, and support WJP’s global network of rule of law stakeholders; lead global policy engagement, advocacy initiatives, and campaigns on rule of law topics; and spearhead WJP’s work to advance the rule of law through strategic convenings, including the World Justice Forum.
Alejandro, who previously served as the lead civil society chair for the Open Government Partnership steering committee, brings to his new role a long track record of building cross-sectoral coalitions and innovative strategies that advance rule of law reforms–both globally and within Mexico.
“We are extremely fortunate to welcome Alejandro González into WJP’s global leadership team at a time when effective, data-driven strategies to advance the rule of law and people-centered justice are in high demand,” said WJP Executive Director Elizabeth Andersen. “Alejandro has an impeccable track record of identifying, convening, and activating rule of law champions within all levels of government, the private sector, and civil society. I have no doubt that his mastery of leveraging data and strategic partnerships to make change at the local, national, and global levels will significantly expand the impact of WJP’s work to strengthen the rule of law at a critical time.”
Prior to beginning his new role, Alejandro served as country director and director of rule of law projects in WJP’s Mexico office. Since joining WJP in 2020, he successfully engaged dozens of Mexican federal and state agencies to harness data from the WJP Mexico States Rule of Law Index to strengthen justice, anti-corruption, human rights, and other reform efforts. Twenty-eight out of 32 Mexican states now use WJP data to benchmark and track progress on rule of law policy goals, as do seven federal agencies and commissions.
At WJP, Alejandro also built a successful partnership with Mexico’s National Transparency Institute to create and operationalize a new Open Justice Metric that measures the transparency, accountability, participation, and collaboration in Mexican justice institutions. Additional work at WJP has included co-creating the Innovation Lab for Justice, which develops innovative solutions to enhance the effectiveness and responsiveness of the criminal justice system, and overseeing the WJP Mexico teams dedicated to people-centered criminal justice and access to justice projects.
Between 2012 and 2020, Alejandro was a top civil society leader at the Open Government Partnership, which promotes accountable, responsive, and inclusive governance around the world. He was instrumental in developing the organization’s theory of change and expanding global participation, which now includes government and civil society reformers from 76 countries and 106 local governments. His previous experience includes consulting for the World Bank, where he advised Global South countries on enhancing accountability and social protection systems, and founding GESOC, a Mexico-City-based think tank working to enhance accountable, effective, and responsive policies in the areas of fiscal governance, social development, and human rights through an open and evidence-informed policy approach.
Alejandro holds an MBA Public Service degree from the School of Public Policy of University of Birmingham in the UK and a PhD in public administration from the Institute of Public Administration in Mexico. He teaches postgraduate courses on public policy at Universidad Panamericana in Mexico City and is the co-founder and board member of influential fiscal, social justice, and open governance coalitions in Mexico, including the Accountability Network, the Collective for Transparency, the Collective for Long-Term Fiscal Sustainability (Colectivo PESO), and Nosotrxs (We).