Todd Wassel

Todd Wassel is The Asia Foundation’s country representative in Thailand. He previously served as country representative in Timor-Leste and Laos.

Before joining The Asia Foundation, Todd worked as a tourism advisor with the United Nations Development Programme, where he supported the development of a participatory tourism policy for a municipal development plan in a rural, multiethnic area of southern Kosovo. He later served as area-based development program coordinator in the United Nations Resident Coordinator’s Office, managing a six-agency service delivery and conflict prevention program in the divided city of Mitrovica in northern Kosovo. In this role, he supported civil society organizations, track two diplomacy initiatives, a revolving micro finance facility, and municipal planning related to shared resources.

In 2010, Todd contributed to the development of land and conflict strategies for the U.S. Agency for International Development mission in Sri Lanka, with a focus on postwar recovery. From 2007 to 2009, he served as Sri Lanka country director for the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE), overseeing programs on land disputes, return and restitution for internally displaced persons in the north, gender-based land titling and inheritance reform, and the prevention of forced evictions. Todd has extensive experience working with local and international nongovernmental organizations in conflict and post conflict settings and supporting governments in developing inclusive decision-making processes for public policy. Earlier in his career, he taught in Japan for five years and speaks fluent Japanese.