Daniel received his J.D. from George Washington University Law School and B.A. in American Studies from the University of California at Davis. Daniel first caught the travel bug during his 2003 summer abroad in Cuba, having the chance to meet his Cuban relatives for the first time at the age of 19 and completely floored by the vibrant culture of the Cuban people and their zest for life.
Daniel’s experiences in Cuba moved him to study law in our Nation’s Capitol. As a law student at George Washington University Daniel authored a series entitled “Beyond Embargo” in the law school’s Nota Bene and created the informal advocacy club, ‘Law Students for Responsible Cuba Policy.’ In 2008, Daniel hosted a contentious debate featuring a panel of leading Cuba policy advocates including Wayne Smith, Phil Peters, Mauricio Claver-Carone and Frank Calzon. While in Washington, D.C., Daniel volunteered with the Latin American Working Group promoting engagement with Cuba and served a clerkship for the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Foreign Affairs, assisting committee members with congressional hearings on legislation intended to lift the travel ban to Cuba and other matters involving US-Cuba relations.
Prior to joining Cuba Cultural Travel in 2015, Daniel held diverse positions in private and public law including corporate transactions with Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy in New York City, small firm family and humanitarian based immigration services, and over four years as In-House Counsel and Contracts Manager for a small veteran-owned technology and U.S. Federal Government services company in Carlsbad, CA.
Daniel’s favorite aspect of running CCT group travel is finding creative ways to support the Cuban people and the mixed start-up communities in the arts, music, hospitality, and growing professional service sectors.