Experts & Leadership
Carin Zissis is the interim director of COA’s Washington Office and editor-in-chief of AS/COA Online, the website of the Americas Society and Council of the Americas.
In her editorial role, she oversees digital content strategy and the website’s suite of content, and is the host of the Latin America in Focus podcast. Based in Mexico City from 2013 to 2021 and with more than 20 years of editorial experience, she has closely covered Mexican and Latin American politics, writing for The Boston Globe, Foreign Policy, Univision, El Universal, World Politics Review, and other publications. She frequently provides commentary to media outlets such as AP, AFP, BBC, CNN, Deutsche Welle, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.
She served as a 2024–25 Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars’ Competition Fellow affiliated with the Center’s Mexico Institute.
Prior to joining AS/COA, she covered Asia as a website staff writer for the Council on Foreign Relations, where her work on an interactive guide to North Korean nuclear tensions earned CFR.org’s Crisis Guide series a 2007 Knight-Batten Award for Innovations in Journalism. She also served as copy editor for the Emmy Award-winning Darfur Guide.
She holds an MA in journalism and Latin American studies from New York University, a BA in history from George Washington University, and is a member of the Mexican Council on Foreign Relations (COMEXI) and the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA).