Country Representative, Laos

Todd Wassel is The Asia Foundation’s country representative in Laos. He formerly served as country representative in Timor-Leste, where he managed programs that help build responsive state institutions to prevent crime and conflict through community-oriented policing and strengthening local governance at the community level.

Prior to joining the Foundation, Todd served as a tourism advisor with UNDP where he was responsible for the development of a participatory tourism policy for a municipal development plan in a rural, ethnically-mixed area in Southern Kosovo. Before that Todd was the area-based development program coordinator under the United Nation’s Resident Coordinator’s Office, where he managed a six UN agency service delivery and conflict prevention program in the divided city of Mitrovica in Northern Kosovo. In this role Todd was engaged in strengthening civil society, supporting track two diplomacy, establishing a revolving micro finance facility, and supporting municipal planning around shared resources.

In 2010, Todd helped develop land and conflict strategies for USAID’s mission in Sri Lanka looking at the post-war environment. From 2007-2009 Todd was Sri Lanka country director for the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE), where he managed programs on land disputes, return and restitution for IDPs in the North, gender-based titling and inheritance reform, and the prevention of forced evictions. Todd has extensive experience working with both local and international NGOs in conflict and post conflict countries and helping governments develop inclusive decisions making structures for good public policy. Prior to his work in development and security sector reform, Todd taught in Japan for five years and speaks fluent Japanese.

Education: Master’s degree in International Development and Conflict Resolution from the Fletcher School, Tufts University; bachelor’s degree in Asian Studies and Comparative Religions from Colgate University.