Hansel Alejandro Aguilar, Ph.D.

Dr. Aguilar holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, and has spent more than 20 years working where public institutions meet the communities they serve. His career spans legal services, immigrant and youth advocacy, federal government, law enforcement, civilian oversight, and college teaching. He founded AGUI TEQ to bring that range of experience to organizations working to become more effective, more transparent, and more trusted.

Born in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, he spent his early childhood in Puerto Cortés and Tegucigalpa before moving to the United States at age eight. He began his career in legal aid in New Jersey and Virginia, helping clients with housing, immigration, and public benefits. He later served as a case manager for unaccompanied immigrant minors, a manager of community labor and volunteer programs, and a U.S. Census Bureau partnership specialist, where he built partnerships with governments, businesses, and community groups for the 2020 Census.

Dr. Aguilar has also worked on every side of public safety accountability. He served as a sworn police officer at George Mason University, as a member of the George Mason University Police Advisory Board, and as an investigator with the Washington, D.C. Office of Police Complaints. He was an inaugural member of the Fairfax County Police Civilian Review Panel, the inaugural Executive Director of the Charlottesville Police Civilian Oversight Board, and the inaugural Director of Police Accountability for the City of Berkeley, California.

As a sociologist, Dr. Aguilar's research covers transnationalism, human rights, governance, and the legal treatment of Central American unaccompanied minors. He has published with Emerald Publishing and in Cureus, and has presented his research at conferences across the United States, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Türkiye, including an invited seminar at Başkent University in Ankara. He has taught as an adjunct professor since 2018 and currently teaches sociology at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, and Evergreen Valley College in San José, California.