Professional Affiliation

Editor-in-Chief, AS/COA Online, Americas Society/Council of the Americas

Expert Bio

Carin Zissis is Editor-in-Chief of AS/COA Online, the website of the Americas Society/Council of the Americas. Based in Mexico City from 2013 to 2021, she regularly publishes analysis and provides commentary on Mexican politics and elections, women’s equity and leadership, U.S.-Mexico ties, and other Latin American issues. She is the host of AS/COA’s Latin America in Focus podcast. With 20 years of editorial experience, her writing and commentary have been featured in Americas Quarterly, The Boston Globe, The New York Times, El Universal (Mexico), Univision, World Politics Review, and other U.S. and international outlets. Prior to joining AS/COA, she was a staff writer at the Council on Foreign Relations, where she produced an interactive guide on North Korea that helped earn CFR.org a Knight-Batten Award for Innovations in Journalism. She holds an MA in Journalism and Latin American studies from New York University and a BA in History from George Washington University.

Expertise

• Democracy
• Elections
• Governance
• Society & Culture
• Women & Gender

 

Wilson Center Project

The Paradox of Parity: Lessons from Mexico’s Rise as a Global Leader in Women’s Political Representation

Project Summary

Mexico is poised to have its first woman president in 2024 and has already reached gender parity in the legislature and other areas of government. But rising representation has coincided with skyrocketing violence against women and persistent economic inequality. Will having a woman in the presidency lead to change? This project will take a journalistic approach to explore Mexico’s path to parity, the women’s movement’s frustrations with ongoing limits to economic and human rights, and what Mexico’s first woman president will mean for the country’s ties with the United States and its place in the world.

Major Publications

• It's Time to Close the Gender Gap in Latin America's Private Sector, March 8, 2024. Co-authored with Susan Segal. Published in La Nación (Argentina), El Mercurio (Chile), El Tiempo (Colombia), El Universal (Mexico)
• Right-Wing Populism Hasn't Thrived in Mexico. Why? February 21, 2024. Americas Quarterly.
• 'Don't We Deserve More?' Mexico's Spike in Femicides Sparks a Woman's Uprising, December 10, 2020. World Politics Review
• Why Mexico Picked a Woman President First

• Claudia Sheinbaum’s ascent came after years of reforms aimed at ensuring gender parity in politics.