Country Representative, Timor-Leste

Héctor Salazar Salame is The Asia Foundation’s country representative in Timor-Leste. Working to encourage international development for over 15 years, Héctor has spent most of his career strengthening social protection systems and poverty reduction programs. His areas of expertise include governance, social protection systems, labor relations, community participation, and evidence-based policymaking.

Before joining the Foundation, Héctor served five years as team leader for an Australian-funded program supporting the Government of Indonesia in strengthening its social protection systems. In this position, Héctor worked to improve Indonesia’s national poverty data management and design evidence-based social assistance programs. He also brings valuable impact evaluation experience having served as the founding executive director of the Southeast Asia regional office of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab.

Prior to his time working in Southeast Asia, Héctor was a senior advisor to The Center for Economic Opportunity in the New York City Mayor’s Office, contributing to the implementation of innovative poverty reduction programs. He also served as a senior program assistant at the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, working on election observation and political party strengthening programs.

Education: Héctor holds a master’s degree in City Planning focused on Political Economy from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from James Madison University.