2008 PARTNERS CONFERENCE Democracy Promotion After the Third Wave:
The Era of the Three Ds (Development, Diplomacy, Defense)
Speakers for Thursday, June 12th
Opening Remarks
John D. Negroponte Deputy Secretary of State, State Department
Ambassador John D. Negroponte is the Deputy Secretary of State, the Department of State’s second ranking official. Appointed by President Bush, he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on February 12, 2007, and was sworn into office by Vice President Cheney on February 13. As Deputy Secretary of State, he assists Secretary Rice in the conduct of U.S. foreign policy and functions as the chief operating officer of the Department. He coordinates and supervises U.S. Government activities overseas, represents the Department’s position before Congress, and manages key foreign policy issues on the Secretary’s behalf. Prior to his current assignment, Ambassador Negroponte served as the first Director of National Intelligence (DNI), for which he was sworn in on April 21, 2005. Previously, he had been serving as United States Ambassador to Iraq, since June 28, 2004. From September 18, 2001, until his appointment to Iraq, Ambassador Negroponte served as the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations. Ambassador Negroponte is a Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Academy of Diplomacy. He is a former Chairman of the French-American Foundation. Ambassador Negroponte was born July 21, 1939, in London, England. He received his Bachelor of Arts from Yale University in 1960
Introductions
Michael Hess Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance (USAID)
Michael Edward Hess was sworn in on June 27, 2005, as Assistant Administrator for the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Hess was appointed by President George W. Bush to this Senate-confirmed position. Prior to his appointment to USAID, he worked as a Senior Risk Reviewer and Vice President at Citibank, responsible for monitoring and evaluating 15 areas of risk for corporate finance units at Citigroup Inc. in New York. Hess has over 30 years of active and reserve service in the United States Military. He received his commission from the United States Military Academy in 1971, and has served in humanitarian operations in Turkey, Iraq, Bosnia and Kosovo. Hess served in both command and staff assignments in the U.S. and Germany and taught European History at the United States Military Academy. Hess has a bachelor's degree in engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point, a master's degree in European history from Columbia University in New York, a master's in business administration and international finance from New York University in New York, and is a graduate of the National Strategic Studies Program at the United States Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
Whole-of-Government Approach to Democracy Promotion
Elisabeth Kvitashvili Deputy Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance (USAID)
Elisabeth Kvitashvili serves concurrently as Deputy Assistant Administrator and Director in the Office of Conflict Management and Mitigation, in the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance, where she is responsible for leading USAID efforts to analyze and respond to instability, extremism and insurgency. She is a career senior foreign service officer with tours in Afghanistan, Russia, and Honduras. She served in Afghanistan, 2002-2003, where she was head of the USAID reconstruction program and Acting Mission Director. In the mid-1980’s she was based in Peshawar, Pakistan where she designed the USAID Cross Border Humanitarian Assistance Program for Afghanistan. She previously served 3 years as the director of the Disaster Response and Mitigation Division in the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance where she led a number of DARTS and one year in the Office of Transition Initiatives as a senior program officer. She holds a Masters Degree in Near East Studies from the University of London School of Oriental and African Studies and a Diploma in International Relations from Paris University School of Political Science. She is fluent in French, Spanish and Russian. She is currently adjunct professor at the Johns Hopkins University School for Advanced International Studies (SAIS).
Larry Sampler Deputy Coordinator, Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization (US Department of State) and Deputy Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance (USAID)
Larry Sampler is the Deputy Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization. At the Deputy-Assistant Secretary level he is responsible for the work of the Conflict Prevention and Strategic Communications offices. He is jointly appointed by both the U.S. Department of State and the US Agency for International Development (USAID). Sampler has been a research staff member with the Institute for Defense Analyses in Virginia. In the past year he has worked on projects related to USG interagency collaboration; responses to illicit power structures in fragile states; capacity-building in the West Bank and Gaza; and non-military contributions to the global war on terror. He was recently on assignment to the US Embassy in Iraq, working as a senior executive service advisor to the Ambassador on reconciliation and demilitarization. Sampler has both a professional and an academic interest in post-conflict reconstruction. He has worked with USAID in a number of venues to evaluate and consider post-conflict interventions and assistance. He has been involved in research programs that include evaluations of complex contingency operations and the US government’s inter-agency responses to them; the role(s) of special operations forces in various post-conflict settings; the relationships between international civil and military actors in post-conflict and reconstruction settings; and mechanisms for identifying and supporting the appropriate institutions in post-conflict settings. He has published and presented papers on these and related subjects. Sampler is a graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology, with undergraduate studies in Physics and Electrical Engineering. His graduate studies there were in the Technology and Science Policy Program and focused on the role of technology in quality-of-life improvements for developing nations. He has a graduate degree in Diplomacy from Norwich University.
Celeste Ward
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Stability Operations Capabilities (CCO), Department of Defense
Celeste Ward is currently serving as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Stability Operations in SOLIC&IC, with oversight of Department of Defense (DoD) policy development on reconstruction and stabilization activities and integrating DoD efforts across components and services. In 2005-2006, Ms. Ward was a Special Assistant to the Counselor at the State Department, where she was involved in policy development on such issues as Iraq, national intelligence policy, Middle Eastern affairs, European affairs, political-military affairs, developing partnership capacity, and the global war on terrorism. Ms. Ward received a Master’s in Public Policy from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Arts from Stanford University.
Civil-Military Coordination: Opportunities and Pitfalls for Good Governance Promotion (11:00 - 12:30)
Eric Picard (Moderator) Democracy and Governance Officer, Civil Society Division, Office of Democracy and Governance (USAID)
Eric Picard, Democracy & Governance Officer, joined the Civil Society Division in April 2007. He earned an M.A. in International Relations and Economics from the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University and a B.S. from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, Kings Point. Prior to joining the DG office, he held the following positions: Bureau for Asia & the Near East (Desk Officer for Sri Lanka & Nepal; Desk Officer for Pakistan; Donor Coordination & Outreach Advisor); Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance (Food for Peace Officer; Team Leader for Local NGO Strengthening Initiatives); Bureau for Policy and Program Coordination (Policy Advisor for Donor Coordination), and the Office of Acquisition & Assistance (Contract Negotiator/Administrator, Transportation Division). In addition, Eric participated in numerous trainings, including the FEI Emerging Leadership Training Program 2004, the DG Officers Conference in 2000, and the DG training for NEPs in 2007. Prior to joining USAID and obtaining his Masters degree, he worked in the private sector in the maritime industry, both ashore and afloat.
Thomas P. Baltazar Director, Office of Military Affairs (USAID)
Thomas Baltazar was appointed by Mr. Andrew Natsios in November 2005 as the Director of the Office of Military Affairs in the Bureau of Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance. He manages the office that is charged with formalizing the Agency's relationship with the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the military, both U.S. and foreign. Mr. Baltazar retired from the US Army after 26 years, attaining the rank of Colonel. His last assignment was the Chief, Joint PSYOP Support Element-National Capital Region. Prior assignments include Chief, Contingency Operations, Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Stability Operations where he managed DoD policy oversight of Non-Combatant Evacuation Operations, United Nations peacekeeping missions in the Middle East and East Africa, Multinational Force-Sinai, and monthly briefings to the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services Committees and the House International Relations Committee. Upon completion of studies at the Virginia Military Institute in May of 1979, he was awarded a Bachelor of Science in Structural Engineering and commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the US Army Corps of Engineers. In 1993, he earned a Master of Science in International Relations from Troy State University and a Masters of Science in National Security and Strategic Studies from the US Naval War College
Dawn M. Liberi Executive Civil-Military Development Counselor to the Commander of the US Central Command
Ms. Liberi serves as the Executive Civil-Military Development Counselor to the Commander of the US Central Command. Ms. Liberi is a member of the Senior Foreign Service, and holds the rank of Minister Counselor. She has served for more than 25 years at USAID in six overseas posts and in Washington, DC. Ms. Liberi served as Mission Director in Iraq for sixteen months in 2005-2006, managing USAID's $5.2 Billion reconstruction and development program. Prior to becoming a Mission Director, Ms. Liberi served as USAID Associate Assistant Administrator in the Global Bureau, Population, Health and Nutrition Office, from 1994-1998; USAID Deputy Mission Director in Ghana from 1992- 1994; and Population, Health and Nutrition Technical Officer for the USAID missions in Senegal and Niger from 1981-1988. She holds a bachelor's degree from Hampshire College and a Master's degree in Public Health from the University of California at Berkeley. She earned an ICAF Distinguished Graduate Diploma in 1992.
Peter M. Manika Senior Associate and Regional Director for Asia Programs (NDI)
Peter M. Manikas is a senior associate and regional director for Asia programs at NDI. Previously, he was the Institute's chief of party in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia and Malawi. Before joining NDI full-time, he served as a consultant to the chairman of the U.N.Commission of Experts for the former Yugoslavia, providing advice and research on the law applicable to the conflict. He also served as a senior fellow in International Human Rights Law at DePaul University College of Law's International Human Rights Law Institute in Chicago, Illinois, specializing in international criminal law and human rights. He is also the co-author of a major treatise on the law applied by the U.N.'s International Criminal tribunal at The Hague. Mr. Manikas is a member of the Illinois Bar. He received a JD from De Paul University College of Law, MA from George Washington University and BA from Roosevelt University.
Democracy Programming under Repressive Regimes (11:00 - 12:30)
Gary Hansen (Moderator) Division Chief, Civil Society, Office of Democracy and Governance (USAID)
Gary Hansen joined the Office of Democracy and Governance in 1995 and currently serves as the Chief of the Civil Society Division. He secured a B.S. in Political Science at the University of Oregon, a M.A. at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh, and a Ph.D. in Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. Gary joined USAID in 1981, working in the Science and Technology Bureau and then in the Evaluation Unit in the Bureau for Policy and Program Coordination. Gary’s geographical expertise is Asia. His country backstop in the DG Office is Indonesia, and he speaks Indonesian. He was a Ford Foundation staff member in Indonesia and later Fulbright Research Fellow in Indonesia. Gary served as Chief of Party for a USAID funded regional development project in Indonesia and was a member of the research staff of the East West Center.
Elizabeth Dugan Vice President, International Republican Institute (IRI)
Elizabeth Dugan is Vice President for Programs of the International Republican Institute (IRI). From 2002 to 2005 she served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL) at the U.S. Department of State, where she directed the bureau's Human Rights and Democracy Fund and oversaw the management of nearly 250 grants, totaling $200 million. Dugan also managed the production, editorial composition and public release of DRL's report on Supporting Human Rights and Democracy: The U.S. Record, which details U.S. government actions to promote democracy and encourage respect for human rights in those countries that are the worst abusers. From 1995 to 2002, she worked at IRI, most recently as Regional Director for the Institute's democracy-building effort in Asia, which included programs in Cambodia, China, Indonesia and East Timor among others. Prior to her work with IRI she served as the Director of Public Affairs for the U.S. Commerce Department's International Trade Administration from 1989 to 1991, and as a Special Assistant for Public and Intergovernmental Affairs at the U.S. Labor Department from 1986 through 1989.
Dr. Daniel Calingaert Deputy Director of Programs (Freedom House)
Dr. Calingaert oversees Freedom House's global portfolio of civil society and media programs. He is also Professorial Lecturer at American University, where he teaches courses on democracy. He previously served as Associate Director of American University's Center for Democracy and Election Management and as Associate Director of the Commission on Federal Election Reform, which was co-chaired by Jimmy Carter and James A. Baker, III. Dr. Calingaert has served as Director for Asia and as Deputy Director for Eastern Europe at the International Republican Institute, where he designed and managed a wide range of programs to promote democracy. These programs strengthened civil society, parliaments, governance, political parties, and elections in more than a dozen countries. Dr. Calingaert began his career as a researcher at the RAND Corporation and later directed programs of the Civic Education Project to reform social science education at universities across Eastern Europe and Eurasia. He graduated with highest honors in International Relations from Tufts University and earned his M.Phil. and D.Phil. from Oxford University.
Paul Majarowitz Director of Civil Society, Mercy Corps
Paul Majarowitz has over ten years of international experience with non-governmental organizations, the U.S. Government and contractors including extensive experience working in, reporting on, and analyzing complex humanitarian and development contexts in South East Asia, South Asia, the Middle East and the Balkans. He was recently appointed Director of Civil Society for Mercy Corps in April 2008 to support Mercy Corps programs involving local partnerships, community mobilization and governance issues. Mr. Majarowitz has led or supported humanitarian and development projects in almost 20 countries and has had extensive involvement in advocacy and public education issues at both the field and headquarters level. He has overseen and participated in comprehensive humanitarian and development programming, including peace-building, NGO capacity building, community mobilization, nutrition, economic development, shelter, health, water, sanitation, agriculture, education, micro-enterprise, and livelihood programs. Mr. Majarowitz has a Master's degree in International Relations, a Bachelors of Arts in International Relations and History.
Douglas Rutzen President & CEO, International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL)
Douglas Rutzen is President and CEO of the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL), which has worked on the legal framework for civil society in over 100 countries. Doug is also on the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania Law School where he teaches international civil society law. In addition, he is Chair of the East-West Management Institute, serves on the Advisory Group of Civil Society Watch, and is a member of the International Advisory Committee of Independent Sector. Prior to joining ICNL, Doug served as Legal Advisor to the Czechoslovak Parliament and worked for Coudert Brothers, where he specialized in Supreme Court litigation and international law. Doug first began working with civil society in the 1980s, serving as a consultant to Helen Keller International in Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. Doug’s publications range from a textbook on NGO law to a “how to” manual on the production of affordable eyeglasses in low income countries.
How USAID Can Contribute to Interagency Initiatives in Policing and Rule of Law Development(11:00 - 12:30)
Richard (Rick) Gold (Moderator) Division Chief, Rule of Law Division, Office of Democracy and Governance (USAID)
Rick Goldjoined USAID in 1980. He currently serves as Chief of the Rule of Law Division in the Democracy and Governance Office. Rick guides the Division's technical excellence, technical backstopping and training activities and assures collaboration with other donors and U.S. Government agencies. He is a member of teams backstopping Mexico, Venezuela and Egypt. From 2004-2007, Rick was Director of the Democracy and Governance Office in USAID/Egypt. He served 15 years as a USAID Democracy Officer, Program Officer and Food for Peace Officer in Egypt, Philippines, Mali, Morocco and Senegal. During his 13 years in Washington, he worked for the Food for Peace Office, the Eurasia Office and the Strategic Budgeting Office of the Program and Policy Coordination Bureau. Prior to joining USAID, Rick worked with the Foreign Trade Division of the Bureau of the Census and the Food Policy Office of the Department of State. He has two Masters of Public Affairs focusing on economic and political development, one from the University of Pittsburgh and one from Harvard University. His Bachelor degree from Brandeis University is in biology.
Eric Beinhart Assistant Director, ICITAP (U.S. Department of Justice Criminal Division)
Eric Beinhart is the Assistant Director for Africa, Middle East, Latin America, and the Caribbean in the International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP), an Office of the U.S. Department of Justice Criminal Division. Mr. Beinhart became assistant director in 2005 and is responsible for law enforcement development programs in Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America and the Caribbean. Mr. Beinhart has worked in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice since May 1991. Prior to coming to ICITAP, he worked in the Office of International Affairs, where he assisted federal, state, and local prosecutors, as well as Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, and U.S. Marshals personnel, in drafting and coordinating extradition and mutual legal assistance requests with the United Kingdom, Ireland, Africa, and the English-speaking Caribbean countries and dependent territories. Mr. Beinhart has a bachelor of arts in international studies (1988) and a master of science in conflict analysis and resolution (1994) from George Mason University. A condensed version of his master's thesis, "Micro-enterprise Development: A Tool for Addressing the Structural Conflict between Rich and Poor," was published by the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University in 1994.
John Buchanan Senior Police Advisor, Rule of Law Division, Office of Democracy and Governance (USAID)
John Buchanan joined US AID in 2007 as the Senior Police Advisor in the Rule of Law Division. John is the only police advisor in the agency, and provides support and consultation to AID Washington staff and missions around the world. He participates in assessments, develops concepts for police development and helps frame assistance to police as part of comprehensive rule of law or cross sectoral programming. During his career, he has carried out assignments for the Department of Justice and USAID in nine countries across Africa, Central America and the Caribbean. In early 2007, John retired from his position as an Assistant Police Chief of the Phoenix Police Department after a 33 year police career. His law enforcement experience includes a wide variety of operational and administrative assignments from the line to the executive level in a large, urban environment. John holds a bachelor's degree in Journalism from the University of Arizona and a Master's Degree in Criminal Justice from Arizona State University.
Sasha Parke Project Management Specialist, USAID/Jamaica
Ms. Sasha Parke currently serves as the Project Management Specialist for USAID/Jamaica's Democracy and Governance portfolio and has, over the last 5-6 years, been involved in a number of USAID interventions in Jamaica in the areas of community policing, administration of justice, civil society capacity building, public private alliances, donor coordination, disaster recovery, and small grants management. Prior to her position as Project Management Specialist for USAID/Jamaica's Democracy and Governance portfolio, Ms. Parke managed a project that established and improved micro and small enterprises through the technical assistance, equipment, training, exchange programs, and other business development services. She has a diverse range of skills including small grants management, project proposal development and project appraisal. She has strong interest in education, community development, and entrepreneurship. Ms. Parke holds a Masters of Science in Project Planning and Management from the University of Bradford, United Kingdom and is a Commonwealth Scholar under the UK Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan. She also holds a Bachelor of Science in Botany and Zoology from the University of the West Indies, Jamaica..
Melanie C. Peyser
Director, Democracy & Governance, MPRI
Melanie C. Peyser is the Director for Democracy and Governance at MPRI with fourteen years experience in international programs. Currently, Peyser focuses on justice and civil society reform. Peyser has advised donors, national governments private foundations and corporate giving programs on international development and has worked with NGOs from around the world to help them achieve their missions. Since returning to the United States from Central Asia in 2005, Peyser has served as Director of Justice and Civil Society Programs with the Institute for Sustainable Communities and asa United States Supreme Court Fellow assigned to the Federal Judicial Center, the research and training agency of the United States federal judiciary. Prior to joining the Supreme Court Fellows Program, Peyser was Project Director of the USAID Central Asia Judicial Systems Development Project and worked with the judiciaries of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to improve judicial education, court administration and administrative law. Peyser holds an A.B. in Political Science and Soviet Studies from Colgate University and spent an undergraduate year in the law faculty of Voronezh State University (Russia) from 1989-1990 prior to completing an MA in Russian Studies at Middlebury College, and a JD at Albany Law School.
Elections and Violence Strategies for Effective Engagement(11:00 - 12:30)
Barbara Smith (Moderator) Democracy Specialist with the Elections and Political Processes Division in the Office of Democracy and Governance (USAID)
Barbara Smith joined USAID in 2001 as a Program Manager for the Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) and currently serves as a Democracy Specialist with the Elections and Political Processes Division in the Office of Democracy and Governance. She serves as an advisor for USAID/DG Field Officers in the design, implementation and evaluation of elections and political processes programs, and provides DC-based assistance in design and management of global EPP research projects. Barbara's geographical expertise includes Asia, the Near East and Central and Eastern Europe. Her country backstop in the DG Office is currently Afghanistan, although she has previously served as backstop for the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Iraq. She speaks German fluently, and has a basic knowledge of Spanish and French. After working for USAID from 2001 to 2003, Barbara spent from mid-2003 through mid-2005 working on elections and political processes for the Asia Foundation in Afghanistan, before returning to USAID Washington in 2005 to begin work with USAID's Office of Democracy and Governance. Prior to joining USAID in 2001, Barbara served as a Spokesperson for UNHCR in Bosnia and Herzegovina. From 1997 to 1999 she worked for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on media development and elections. Other professional experience includes working at the U.S. Department of State's Foreign Service Institute in 1996 and at the Texas State House of Representatives in 1994 and 1995. Barbara holds a B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin and an M.A. from Texas State University.
Almami Cyllah Chief of Party, Liberia (IFES)
Almami Cyllah has more than 20 years experience in conflict resolution, political affairs and democracy development. He currently serves as IFES' Chief of Party in Liberia providing technical assistance to the National Election Commission (NEC). Mr. Cyllah previously worked as IFES' Chief of Party in Haiti and also has field experience from Kenya and Cote d'Ivoire. He also worked in Washington, D.C., as the Director of African Affairs for Amnesty International. Mr. Cyllah earned his Bachelor's degree in politics from The Catholic University of America. He has also been published in the Washington Post, the Christian Science Monitor and Africa Report
Sean Dunne Global Practice Leader, UNOPS
Sean Dunne is a specialist in post-conflict and transitional electoral operations, with more than 17 years of professional experience in high-risk projects and operational management. He currently serves as a Global Practice Leader at UNOPS focusing on Census and Elections. Formerly in the Electoral Assistance Division of the Department of Political Affairs, Sean has been involved in over 20 United Nations electoral projects during the past 8 years. Before joining the UN he was an Australian Federal Agent, managing federal and international investigations, and was certified as an expert in Use of Force models. Sean holds a Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology from Central Queensland University, and a Masters degree in Politics from New York University.
Carina Perelli Vice President of Development and Outreach (IFES)
Carina Perelli brings more than 15 years of democracy and governance experience to her role as IFES' Vice President for Development and Outreach. Prior to joining IFES, Ms. Perelli enjoyed an extensive and high-profile career with the United Nations, having most recently served as the Director of the Electoral Assistance Division. She played a direct role in the electoral transitions of countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan, East Timor, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. She also led efforts to develop a comprehensive regional strategy for political and electoral transition in the Middle East. Ms. Perelli most recently authored a chapter on electoral transitions in Every Vote Counts: The Role of Elections in Building Democracy. Ms. Perelli completed post-graduate studies in Government at the University of Notre Dame, has a Bachelor's degree in social work from the University of the Republic of Uruguay and a post-graduate degree in sociology at CIESU/FLACSO (Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales.)
Designing Effective Anticorruption Programs for Post-Conflict Rebuilding Settings
Elizabeth Hart (Moderator) Senior Anti-Corruption Advisor for the DG Office Governance Division
Elizabeth Hart coordinates the development and testing of DCHA/DG’s anticorruption assessment methodology and is overseeing new Anticorruption Program Briefs on extractive industry transparency, addressing corruption in the judiciary and addressing corruption in post-conflict settings. Liz has led anticorruption trainings and mainstreaming workshops and provides other temporary duty (TDY) support on anticorruption issues, and she represents USAID in interagency and international fora on the UN Convention Against Corruption and the OECD Development Assistance Committee Anticorruption Task Team. She started with USAID in 1996 as a Democracy Fellow in the DG Office working on civil society, DG strategies, and the linkages between democracy and economic growth and then was democracy and governance advisor in the USAID Nigeria Mission from 1999 to 2003. Liz’s most extensive international experience has been in Africa; she has lived in Ghana and Nigeria, researched government-business relations and stakeholder participation in economic reform around the continent, and conducted assessments and provided other TDY support in more than 20 African countries. She also has conducted assessments and workshops in Asia and Latin America and speaks French (under extreme duress). She has a B.A. in political science from Whitman College, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Politics from Princeton University.
Derick Brinkerhoff Senior Fellow in International Public Management, RTI International
Derick Brinkerhoff, EdD, is a Senior Fellow at Research Triangle Institute in international public management. He has more than 25 years of experience with public management issues in developing and transitioning countries, focusing on policy analysis, program implementation and evaluation, participation, institutional development, democratic governance issues, and management change efforts in the public and nonprofit sectors. He has received multiple awards and honors for his published research in social science and policy studies and for his contributions to the theory and practice of international development and comparative public administration. Dr. Brinkerhoff has written/edited 8 books, 36 refereed articles, 27 book chapters, and numerous conference papers. One of his most recent books is Governance in Post-Conflict Societies: Rebuilding Fragile States (Routledge, 2006). He holds a faculty associate appointment at The George Washington University School of Public Policy and Public Administration.
Phyllis Dininio Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization, U.S. State Department
Phyllis Dininio is the Senior Governance Advisor in the Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization in the U.S. Department of State. She has led interagency planning efforts for Cuba, Kosovo, and Afghanistan, and contributed to best practices on governance, state-building, and corruption in post-conflict settings. Prior to this position, she has worked as a consultant on good governance to international, governmental, and non-governmental organizations, served on the faculty of American University’s Transnational Crime and Corruption Center, and served as USAID's first senior anti-corruption advisor. Her publications include The USAID Handbook for Fighting Corruption (1998), the World Bank’s Improving Governance and Controlling Corruption (co-editor, 2002),"The U.S. Integrity Assessment and Scorecard" for Global Integrity (2004), The Political Economy of East German Privatization (1999), and several articles and book chapters on corruption. She holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Yale University, a M.A. in Political and Economic Development from the Fletcher School, and a B.A. in Economics and Sociology (magna cum laude) from Harvard University.
Bertram Spector Management Systems International
Bertram Spector is the Director of the Anticorruption Practice at Management Systems International. He has extensive experience providing technical assistance to government, civil society, business and the mass media — at central, regional, and local levels — in the development and implementation of anticorruption programs in many countries worldwide, specializing in countries of the former Soviet Union and Central and Eastern Europe. Recently, he directed development of the new USAID Corruption Assessment Methodology and edited a book, Fighting Corruption in Developing Countries: Strategies and Analysis (Kumarian Press, 2005), which presents a sectoral approach to dealing with corruption vulnerabilities. Dr. Spector is also the Founding Editor-in-Chief of an academic journal, International Negotiation: A Journal of Theory and Practice (Brill Academic Publishers). He has been a Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at the Johns Hopkins University. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from New York University.
The Effects of US Foreign Assistance on Democracy-Building: Presenting the Results of Two Quantitative Cross National Studies (Afternoon Plenary 1:30 - 3:00)
David Black (Moderator) Regional Coordinator for Europe and Eurasia, Strategies Division, Office of Democracy and Governance (USAID)
David Black has served with USAID since 1994, including four years as the Senior Democracy Advisor for Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova based in Kyiv, Ukraine, and a year as the Democracy Office Director for the USAID/Kosovo Mission based in Pristina. He currently is a member of the Strategic Planning and Research Division in DCHA/DG where he is the Regional Coordinator for Europe & Eurasia and manages a set of research initiatives to improve evaluation of democracy assistance programs. He speaks Russian and has lived and studied extensively in the Europe and Eurasia region. He holds a B.A. from Colgate University and an M.A. in International Relations from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University.
Mitchell A. Seligson Centennial Professor, Political Science, Vanderbilt University
Mitchell A. Seligson is the Centennial Professor of Political Science at Vanderbilt University and is also a Fellow of the Center for the Americas and a Fellow of the Vanderbilt Center for Nashville Studies. He founded and directs the Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP), which conducts the AmericasBarometer surveys that currently cover over 20 countries in the Americas. LAPOP has conducted over 100 surveys of public opinion, mainly focused on democracy, in many countries in Latin America, but has also included projects in Africa and the Balkans. For details, see www.LapopSurveys.org. Prior to joining the faculty at Vanderbilt, he held the Daniel H. Wallace Chair of Political Science at the University of Pittsburgh, and also served there as director of the Center for Latin American Studies. His most recent books are The Legitimacy Puzzle: Democracy and Support in Latin America (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming), co-authored with John Booth, and Development and Underdevelopment, the Political Economy of Global Inequality (Fourth Edition, forthcoming Lynne Reinner Publishers, co-edited with John Passé-Smith). He has chaired or co-chaired over 25 Ph.D. dissertations.
C. Neal Tate Professor of Political Science and Law and Chair, Department of Political Science, Vanderbilt University
C. Neal Tate is Professor of Political Science and Law and Chair of the Department of Political Science at Vanderbilt University. He was previously Dean of the Robert B. Toulouse School of Graduate Studies and Regents Professor of Political Science at the University of North Texas. From 1994-1996, he served as Program Director for the Law and Social Science Program at the U.S. National Science Foundation in Washington, D.C. Tate has served as President of the Southwest Political Science Association, as Secretary of the Southwestern Social Science Association, as President of the Research Committee on Comparative Judicial Studies of the International Political Science Association, Chair of the Law and Courts Section of the American Political Science Association and Vice President and Program Chair of the Southern Political Science Association. He edited The Law and Politics Book Review, the official journal of the Law and Courts Section, from 1996-1999.
Enhancing DG Participation in Civil Military Programming
L. Alex Berg (Moderator) Advisor, Democracy and Governance Office’s Rule of Law Division
Louis-Alexandre Berg is a Rule of Law Advisor in the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Office of Democracy and Governance, where he provides technical support and training on rule of law development programs. He is the rule of law division’s specialist on post-conflict environments. He has designed and managed justice sector and anti-corruption programs in a number of USAID field missions, including in Jordan, West Bank/Gaza, Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, El Salvador, and Haiti, and provided technical support to rule of law programs throughout the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. He has conducted a number of trainings and workshops on justice sector reform issues including post-conflict rule of law, measurement and evaluation, and legal empowerment of the poor. As a Presidential Management Fellow, he served in the State Department’s Office of War Crimes Issues. Prior to joining USAID, he worked with the UN Development Program in Sierra Leone on implementing justice sector strengthening programs. He has conducted research for the U.S. National Security Council on security and rule of law in post-conflict environments. He has also worked on peace-building, conflict resolution and regional security initiatives in the Middle East with several non-governmental organizations, including Search for Common Ground and Seeds of Peace. Alex holds a B.A. from Brown University, an M.P.A in public policy and international affairs from Princeton University, and is pursuing a Ph.D. in political science at Georgetown University. He speaks French, Spanish, Hebrew and Arabic.
David R. Goode
ARD, Governance and Institutional Development
David Goode is an associate in the Governance and Institutional Development sector at ARD and serves as the Senior Technical Advisor and Manager for USAID’s Afghanistan Local Governance and Community Development Project – North and West Regions (LGCD/NW). He travels to Afghanistan quarterly to work with ARD field staff implementing LGCD/NW from its headquarters in Kabul. David’s background is in municipal management and community development primarily in the United States and in the Balkans. His key international experience includes eight years working on institutional development and capacity building programs in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and Slovenia as well as Afghanistan and Iraq. He has in-depth experience in municipal management, community-based citizen initiatives, and intergovernmental relations in the United States. David has diverse experience working with local elected officials to improve accountability and transparency in constituent representation. He has extensive campaign experience in local elections in both the United States and the Balkans, and is an expert on proportional election systems and their affects on political dynamics in elected bodies.
Russell Porter Office of Transition Initiatives (USAID)
Russell Porter is currently team leader for Latin America in the Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Since coming to OTI in 200, Russell has worked on a variety of country programs and his portfolio includes the oversight, design and management of democracy-strengthening and conflict-prevention programs in the region, including Venezuela, Colombia, and Cuba. He has also overseen OTI programs in Haiti, Peru, Bolivia, Honduras, and a previous program in Colombia. Prior to his current position with USAID, Russell was at the public affairs firm Powell Tate from 1998-2000, supervising accounts for international clients, including the Republic of Tunisia, Gabon, the Taiwan Research Institute, among others. His work included developing and implementing public affairs strategies for clients, managing contracts, and initiating proposals for new business. Russell holds a BA (’89) from Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn., and an MA (’96) in Latin American studies and international economics from the Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University.
Dr. Jay Singh Former Senior Development Advisor to the US Commander, CJTF-HOA
Until recently, Dr. Jay Singh was the Senior Development Advisor to the US Commander, Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa, Camp Lemonier, Djibouti. As a senior member of the Command Element, he provided the Commander input on effective interface, cooperation and coordination among USG regional and bilateral missions, including USAID, and the development and humanitarian communities and CJTF-HOA with regard to development and humanitarian activities within the CJTF-HOA Area of Responsibility. For his service at CJTF-HOA, Dr. Singh was the first civilian recipient of the Joint Civilian Services Commendation Medal. Prior to this, he was the Senior Regional Conflict, Democracy and Governance Advisor at USAID's Regional Mission in Nairobi. His main areas of responsibilities included providing technical assistance on regional issues and activities related to conflict-sensitive development, mitigating extremism through development assistance, extractive industries, conflict and democracy in the Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes region. Prior to his posting in Nairobi, he was a conflict advisor in the Conflict Management and Mitigation (CMM) Office in USAID's Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance.
Robert Turner
Robert Turner has over a decade's experience with NGOs and the United Nations, mostly in conflict and immediate post-conflict environments, including in West, Central, Southern and North Africa, the Balkans, Middle East and Asia. In most of these contexts an element of civil-military coordination has been required, be it with national armies, non-state actors, UN or coalition forces. Robert is now an independent consultant and works with Camber as a subject matter expert.
Good Enough Governance for Fragile States?: Lessons from Iraq, Qualifiers from Afghanistan and Pakistan
Pat Fn’Piere (Moderator)
Acting Chief of the Governance Division (USAID)
Patricia Fn’Piere came to USAID in 1990 and currently serves as the Acting Chief of the Governance Division. She oversees delivery of technical leadership, field support and cadre development services in anticorruption, local governance, legislative strengthening, security sector reform and policy reform/public administration. Pat is Co-Chair of a US Government Interagency Sub-Policy Coordinating Council on Training, Exercises, and Experiments which plans for and prepares the interagency for reconstruction and stabilization operations. She is directing the development of guidance for state-building and democratic governance work in post conflict countries. She has championed effective management of change and democratic governance in the international development field for over twenty years as manager, technical expert, trainer, and facilitator, providing assistance worldwide. Prior to moving to USAID she worked on community development and health systems and at USDA on development management and training. Most of Pat’s work has been done in Africa with some experience in all the other regions. Her country backstops in the DG Office are Mali, South Africa and Djibouti. She has a Master's degree in Public Administration.
Derick Brinkerhoff
Senior Fellow in International Public Management, RTI International
Derick Brinkerhoff, EdD, is a Senior Fellow at Research Triangle Institute in international public management. He has more than 25 years of experience with public management issues in developing and transitioning countries, focusing on policy analysis, program implementation and evaluation, participation, institutional development, democratic governance issues, and management change efforts in the public and nonprofit sectors. He has received multiple awards and honors for his published research in social science and policy studies and for his contributions to the theory and practice of international development and comparative public administration. Dr. Brinkerhoff has written/edited 8 books, 36 refereed articles, 27 book chapters, and numerous conference papers. One of his most recent books is Governance in Post-Conflict Societies: Rebuilding Fragile States (Routledge, 2006). He holds a faculty associate appointment at The George Washington University School of Public Policy and Public Administration.
Larry Cooley President, Management Systems International
Founder and President of Management Systems International, Larry Cooley has 35 years of experience in the fields of strategic management, process facilitation and policy reform. He currently oversees MSI’s $200m project to help rebuild the capacity of civilian Ministries in Iraq and, for ten years, directed MSI’s efforts under the USAID-funded Implementing Policy Change Project. He has been an advisor to Cabinet and sub-Cabinet level officials in the U.S. Departments of State, Interior, Agriculture, Health and Human Services, FDA and the Small Business Administration; a frequent consultant at USAID, the United Nations and the World Bank; and an advisor to senior officials in more than a dozen foreign countries. Mr. Cooley was principal author of USAID’s publication on monitoring and evaluating in post-conflict settings and the World Bank’s guidelines for maintaining watching briefs in conflict countries. He also served as Team Leader for the training program MSI provided for more than 10,000 newly elected government officials in Nigeria following the return to democracy.
Before founding MSI, Mr. Cooley worked at UNDP, the World Bank and Practical Concepts Incorporated. He served as Chair of the Development Management Network of the American Society of Public Administration from 1988 until 2003, has facilitated a number of high-profile events, and has served as an adjunct professor and frequent lecturer on development-related topics at a variety of universities. Mr. Cooley holds an MA in Economics from Columbia University, an MPA in Public Policy from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University, and a M. Phil. in Management from Cranfield School of Management in the UK.
M. Chris Mason Senior Fellow, Center for Advanced Defense Studies
Chris Mason is Senior Fellow at the Center for Advanced Defense Studies in Washington, DC, and serves as the South Asia Desk Officer for the Marine Corps Center for Advanced Operational Culture (CAOCL) in Quantico, Virginia. He is concurrently a Senior Research Fellow with the Program for Culture & Conflict Studies at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, focusing on the history, culture and ethnography of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Mr. Mason is a retired Foreign Service Officer who served as the Afghanistan Policy Officer for the Bureau of Political Military Affairs at the State Department developing U.S. security policy on Afghanistan for four years beginning in June 2001. In 2005, he served as the Political Officer on the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Paktika Province on the Pakistan border. Mr. Mason has traveled frequently to Afghanistan and Pakistan on a variety of security-related projects and written extensively on the region. He holds a Masters Degree in Military Studies from Marine Corps University and is a PhD candidate in South Asian History at the George Washington University in Washington, DC.
Democracy from the Bottom Up
Michael Eddy (Moderator) USAID/Macedonia
Maureen Harrington Vice President for Policy and International Relations, at the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC)
Maureen Harrington, Vice President for Policy and International Relations, at the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), is responsible for managing the annual eligible and Threshold country selection process, executing the Threshold Program, ensuring effective donor coordination on the general MCC approach, and monitoring trends in development policy and practice. In addition, her department develops strategies to increase private sector trade, investment, and corporate social responsibility partnerships in MCC eligible countries. Maureen is a former IRI program officer (Africa).
John Johnson, Director of Governance at NDI
John Johnson is the director of governance at NDI where he manages a team of professionals supporting regional programs to strengthen parliaments, and the offices of presidents and prime ministers. He also serves as NDI's liaison with development and scholarly institutions working on governance issues.
Maria-Teresa Nogales International Republican Institute (IRI)
Maria-Teresa Nogales manages governance program design and implementation in Latin America & the Caribbean at IRI. These programs are designed to promote and institutionalize good governance practices and policies at the state and municipal level.
New Media: The Next Frontier for Free Expression and Civic Organizing
Troy Etulain (Moderator) Senior Advisor for Independent Media Development (USAID)
Troy Etulain joined USAID in July 2007 as a Senior Advisor for Independent Media Development with a global purview. His regional expertise includes the Former Soviet Union (FSU), Southeast Asia and East Africa. Troy speaks Russian at a professionally proficient level, intermediate German as well as some French and Spanish. Since joining USAID, Troy has focused on especially challenging programming environments, including Somalia, Burma, Sudan, Rwanda and others. His DG country backstops are Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Prior to joining USAID, Troy spent more than two years as Internews Network’s Country Director to Tajikistan on projects ranging from founding community radio stations to training and equipping private TV stations. Troy has a Master’s Degree in International Economic Development from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and a Bachelor’s degree in both English and International Relations from Georgetown University. While at Georgetown, he interned in the White House Press Office. From 1996-98 Troy served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in a village in the Russian Far East. Immediately prior to joining USAID, Troy covered Georgia and Armenia for Bloomberg News.
Jeanne Bourgault Senior Vice-President for Programs, Internews Network
Jeanne Bourgault serves as Internews Network’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Senior Vice President for Programs, overseeing the operation of Internews' 23 offices and programs worldwide. Bourgault joined Internews in 2001 as Vice President for Programs. Her expertise is in democracy promotion and media development. Prior to joining Internews, Bourgault served for six years with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) (1990-1996), including three years working on Latin America programs followed by three years as Director of the Office of Democratic Initiatives at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. While in Moscow, Bourgault managed a $250 million portfolio of democracy assistance and educational exchange programs through a period of dramatic democratic transition, including an attempted coup and Russia’s first democratic parliamentary elections.
From 1997-2000, Bourgault worked in the former Yugoslavia, serving as a strategic advisor for media development programs in post-war Kosovo, as well as manager of community development projects in Serbia and Montenegro. In late 2000, Bourgault re-opened USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives program in Belgrade following the fall of Slobodan Milosevic.Bourgault has consulted on international development program design and evaluation to the Open Society Insftitute, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Research Triangle Institute, and the United Nations Centre for Human Rights, among others.
Bourgault speaks Russian and holds a Master of Arts in International Studies and a Masters in Public Affairs from the University of Washington.
Mark Whitehouse
Director of Media Development Programs, IREX
Mark Whitehouse has over 15 years of experience in media and democratic development. As the Director of IREX's Media Development Division, he manages its portfolio of USAID, US State Department, and privately funded media projects in Asia, Africa, Europe and Eurasia, and the Middle East. He has helped develop program strategies, led IREX collaboration with other international donors, conducted assessments in Africa, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe, and led the team that developed the Media Sustainability Index. He has presented at numerous conferences on media development, monitoring and evaluation, and ethnic politics.
Prior to joining IREX, Mr. Whitehouse worked conducting research for the Carter Center’s Commission on Radio and Television Policy; was a Development Associate at USAID’s Bureau for Europe and Eurasia, and was Administrator of USSR Programs at ACTR/ACCELS. He has conducted research on ethnic politics at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Ethnography in Moscow and at affiliate centers in Russian provinces. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of both IREX Europe and BTC ProMedia, a Bulgarian media training center and production house. Mr. Whitehouse received an MA in Political Science from Emory University, an MA in Russian and East European Studies from Georgetown University, and a BA in Government from Georgetown University.
Robert Guerra Senior Program Officer for Internet Freedom, Freedom House
Robert Guerra is the Senior Program Officer for Freedom House's Global Internet Freedom program. At Freedom House Robert works on issues of data privacy, secure communications, information security, Internet Governance and internet Freedom. He is often invited to speak at events to share the challenges being faced by social justice organizations in regards to surveillance, censorship and privacy.
Robert was actively involved in the the UN World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) - being an active member of civil society bureau, the internet governance caucus as well as being the NGO advisor to the official Canadian Government delegation. He advises numerous non-profits, foundations and international organizations, including Taking IT Global, DiploFoundation's Internet Governance and Policy Capacity Building Programme, The Open Net Initiative and The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers's At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) and its Security and Stability Advisory Committee, among others.
Ken Berman
Director of Information Technology, Broadcasting Board of Governors
Ken has been the Information Technology Director of the International Broadcasting Bureau/Broadcasting Board of Governors since July, 2004, where he brought together several disparate offices that handle Internet (including the VOA web site); audio and video production tools and archiving; and help desk and network support to all computer users in the Agency.
In addition, Ken is the manager of the IBB's Anti-Censorship Program, overseeing a technical staff of networking engineers, computer programmers, and contractors that concentrate on developing technical countermeasures to foreign government's Internet filtering and censorship efforts. He has established this program as a critical component in getting US Government programs materials such as the Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, and Radio Farda into countries such as China and Iran. Prior to this, he completed a 2-year detail assignment at the Department of State, where he did initial design planning for the new embassy in Beijing and helped establish secure communication systems between the Department and its overseas building contractors.He was involved with the global modernization of IBB's overseas technical facilities, where he managed the design and construction of transmitting stations in nearly a dozen countries. He has a Bachelors Degree in Electrical Engineering, High Honors, from the University of Illinois, and a Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Hawaii.
The Democracy Advantage: Examining Why and How Democracy Supports Broad-based Economic Growth (3:30 - 5:00)
Kimberly Ludwig (Moderator)
Senior Civil Society and Labor Advisor, Office of Democracy and Governance (USAID)
Kimberly Ludwig returned to the DG Office in 2005 and currently serves as the Senior Civil Society and Labor Advisor in the Civil Society Division. She assists the Division in the design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation of labor programs, manages the Agency’s Global Labor Program Cooperative Agreement with the American Center for International Labor Solidarity, manages the contract for analytic work with ARD on the role of labor in foreign assistance, coordinates the Agency’s labor portfolio with other USG agencies including the Departments of State and Labor, and designs and conducts training programs for USAID and State Department staff on labor and civil society topics. Kimberly’s primary geographical expertise is in Africa. Her country backstops in the office are Kenya, Zambia and Southern Africa. Prior to 2005, she spent three years with the United Nation’s International Labor Office in Geneva, Switzerland, in the department of Policy Integration. She was previously a Democracy Fellow with the DG Office in 2001, working on civil society strategies and technical support. Before joining the DG Office, she worked with USAID- and NSF- funded projects studying political participation and political transitions in Africa, with the USAID/DG program in Zambia, and as a technical consultant for the Southern Africa Barometer project. She received her B.A. from the University of Southern California and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science from Michigan State University, where she was also a Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellow in African Studies. Kimberly was certified as a CTO in 2005, and is a member of the Agency’s Workforce, Employment and Labor (WEL) cross-sectoral working group.
Ron Blackwell Chief Economist, American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO)
Ron Blackwellis chief economist of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) where he coordinates the economic agenda of the federation and represents the AFL-CIO on corporate and economic issues affecting American workers and their unions. Ron chairs the economic policy working group of the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD and is a director of the Baltimore branch of the Richmond Federal Reserve Bank. Ron is author of Globalization and the American Labor Movement in Audacious Democracy: Labor, Intellectuals and the Social Reconstruction of America, edited by Steve Fraser and Joshua Freeman; co-editor of Worldly Philosophy: Essays in Political and Historical Economics; and has recently won the Nat Weinberg Award for service to the labor movement and social justice. Before coming to the AFL-CIO, Ron was assistant to the president of the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union (ACTWU) and chief economist of UNITE. Before joining the labor movement, Ron was academic dean in the Seminar College of the New School where he taught economics, politics and philosophy.
Joseph Siegle Senior Advisor, Democratic Governance, Development Alternatives (DAI)
Joseph Siegle is the Senior Advisor for Democratic Governance at Development Alternatives (DAI), a private consulting firm focusing on business development and democratization, with operations in over 70 countries. He is also an adjunct Senior Research Scholar at the Center for International and Security Studies (CISSM) at the University of Maryland's School of Public Policy. Dr. Siegle writes on the political economy of democratic transitions. Trained as an economist and a political scientist, his research and advisory work focuses on the economic and security implications of democratization, post-conflict reconstruction, and analyzing global trends in democratic governance. He has field experience from more than 25 countries over 20+ years. Dr. Siegle was the Douglas Dillon Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations from 2001-2004. Prior to this, he worked for nearly a decade with the international NGO, World Vision, in a wide range of economic development, agriculture, environment, health, and education programs as well as in a number of conflict and post-conflict contexts. Dr. Siegle has advised USAID, the State Department, and the Department of Defense on a range of democratization, development, conflict issues. He also serves on the technical advisory boards for the Polity IV and Global Integrity governance indices. He is co-author of The Democracy Advantage: How Democracies Promote Prosperity and Peace (Routledge, 2nd edition forthcoming 2008) and has published widely in leading policy journals and newspapers
John D. Sullivan Executive Director, Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE)
John D. Sullivan is Executive Director of the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), an affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. In 1983, he was associate director of the Democracy Program that created the National Endowment for Democracy. Previously, John had worked at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Public Affairs Department and on the President Ford Election Committee. He spent several years working on minority enterprise development in the mid 1970s. Mr. Sullivan has a Ph.D. in international relations from the University of Pittsburgh, and is the author of a number of articles and publications on anti-corruption, corporate governance, and market-oriented democratic development, and is an adjunct faculty member at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and George Mason University Graduate School of Public Affairs. He is the chair of the USAID Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid. For more information see www.cipe.org.
John G. Ellis(Discussant) Lead for Economic Growth Programs, Office of the Director for Foreign Assistance (DFA), US Department of State
John G.Ellis is the Lead for Economic Growth programs in the Office of the Director for Foreign Assistance (DFA), US Department of State, and was recently responsible for managing negotiations with the Office of Management and Budget on the Secretary of State's FY 2009 budget request for the overall Development Assistance account. Mr. Ellis is a career civil servant.In 1985, he joined the U.S. Foreign Service as an economics officer, serving overseas in Brazzaville, Auckland, and Shenyang. Mr. Ellis left the Foreign Service in 1996 to join the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) During his five years at USTR, he supported negotiations on China's accession to the World Trade Organization and on the plurilateral Information Technology Agreement, and led U.S. negotiating teams in bilateral, regional and multilateral negotiations on food and agricultural standards and government procurement. Mr. Ellis joined the U.S. Agency for International Development in 2001 to lead a newly established Trade Capacity Building unit. He received his Bachelor of Arts (international relations) from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, and holds a Masters of Science in Foreign Service (economics track) from Georgetown University.
Dorothy Douglas Taft
Director, Office of Democracy and Governance (USAID)
Dorothy Douglas Taft has served as Director of the Office of Democracy and Governance since October 2007. Over the previous 12 years, Ms. Taft served as Chief and Deputy Chief of Staff for the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (the Helsinki Commission). With the Commission’s focus on the policies and practices of 56 countries of Europe, Eurasia and the Caucasus, and the mandate of the OSCE, Ms. Taft gave particular attention to the promotion of the rule of law, civil society and democratic institutions, and protection of basic human rights. Ms. Taft served as a Professional Staff Member for the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee during 1993-1994, and as Legislative Assistant to Rep. Christopher Smith (NJ) from 1985-1993. A native of Birmingham, Alabama, she studied history and graduated with Honors, earning her Bachelor of Arts degree from Old Dominion University (Norfolk, Virginia).
The Impact of Demography on the Prospects for Democracy and Social Change
Cate Johnson (Moderator) Deputy Director, Office of Democracy and Governance (USAID)
Cate Johnson joined USAID in 1994 and currently serves as Deputy Director of the Office of Democracy and Governance, where she assists the Director in all aspects of senior management. She served in both USAID/Caucasus and USAID/Romania as Office Director for democracy programs, and in this capacity worked in all four sub-sectors of DG promotion. Cate has a strong background in health and nutrition, has academic expertise in conflict resolution, and oversaw the child welfare and family health portfolios in Romania. She has worked in all four geographic regions and speaks Spanish, Romanian, and German. From 1995-2000, Cate served as Program Officer for USAID’s Women’s Legal Rights initiative, where she helped launch USAID’s first efforts to curtail human trafficking and gender-based violence. Prior to joining USAID, Cate lived and worked in low-income community settings in both Latin America and Africa, where she conducted research in food security and maternal child health for UNICEF, Cornell University, the University of Malawi, and Tufts University. Cate holds a Ph.D. from Tufts University in International Nutrition, and will soon complete a Graduate Certificate in World Religions, Diplomacy, and Conflict Resolution from George Mason University. She has served on the faculty at Cornell University, Tulane University, and The George Washington University.
Jack A. Goldstone
Hazel Professor and Director of the Center for Global Policy, George Mason University
Jack A. Goldstone (Ph.D. Harvard University) is Hazel Professor and Director of the Center for Global Policy at George Mason University, and a Scholar at the Mercatus Center. He is the author of Revolution and Rebellion in the Early Modern World (California 1991), and editor of The Encyclopedia of Political Revolutions (Congressional Quarterly 1998). He has received the Distinguished Contribution to Scholarship award of the American Sociological Association, the Arnoldo Momigliano Prize of the Historical Society, and fellowships from the ACLS and the MacArthur Foundation. Professor Goldstone has written or edited ten books and over one hundred academic articles or essays on topics ranging from demography and conflict to long-term social and economic change. He has been a consultant to the US State Department and the US Agency for International Development on support for fragile states. He is currently editor of Foreign Policy Bulletin and recently chaired a National Academy of Sciences research committee on evaluations of US democracy assistance.
Radical Extremism and Development Responses (11:00 - 12:30)
Dr. Zeric Smith (Moderator) Senior Conflict Analyst, Africa Bureau, Office of Sustainable Development (USAID)
Dr. Zeric K. Smith works for the Bureau for Africa at the US Agency for International Development as a Senior Conflict Analyst. In his position he coordinates support for Peace Building and Counter Terrorism programs in Africa and provides analytical leadership in program strategy, activity design, and monitoring and evaluation for USAID missions across the continent. In addition to other duties, he works on the Trans Sahara Counter Terrorism Partnership. With 17 years experience in international development, he previously worked for Management Systems International as a Senior Political Analyst where he regularly designed and directed complex studies and surveys for MSI’s multiple clients. He has taught courses on African Politics, Political Economy of Development, and Comparative Politics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of South Carolina, Columbia and has published articles in academic journals, book chapters, and encyclopedias. He has presented papers at numerous scholarly conferences in the US and overseas.
Dr. Lynn Carter Management Systems International
Dr. Lynn Carter is Director of Democracy, Governance and Conflict at Management Systems International, Washington DC. She is a political scientist and South Asia/Middle East specialist. She is working with USAID's Africa and DCHA Bureaus and has previously worked with the ANE Bureau on religious extremism and counter-extremism efforts. She has recently worked on madrasa reform and access to justice in India and on human rights in Sri Lanka. She has written a book on Christian-Muslim relations in Egypt.
Dr. Craig Charney Charney Research
Dr. Craig Charney is president of Charney Research, an international polling firm based in New York. He has polled in more than 30 countries, including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Egypt, and several other Muslim states. Major projects in the Muslim world include the three-country study presented here, a study of responses to anti-Americanism for the Council on Foreign Relations, annual surveys in Afghanistan for ABC News, the World Bank, and other clients, and voter education research in Afghanistan in 2004 and Indonesia in 1999 and 2003 for the Asia Foundation. Prior to establishing the firm in 1997, he was Senior Analyst on Bill Clinton’s 1996 polling team and co-directed voter education polling for Nelson Mandela and the ANC for South Africa’s 1994 election. He holds a Yale PhD in political science and has taught at Yale, Wits, and the New School.
Using Independent Data for Evaluations and Assessments (11:00 - 12:30)
Mark Billera (Moderator) Regional Coordinator for Africa, Strategies Division, Office of Democracy and Governance (USAID)
Mark Billera joined the Office of Democracy and Governance in 2005 to work in the Strategic Planning and Research Division. He is the Regional Coordinator for Africa and a contributor to SORA—a set of research initiatives to evaluate the effectiveness of USAID democracy assistance. He has worked and conducted research in Cameroon. Mark has an A.B. in political science and economics from Duke University. He has an M.A. and is finishing his Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Joel Barkan Senior Associate, Africa Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies and Professor Emeritus, University of Iowa
Joel Barkan is professor emeritus of political science at the University of Iowa and senior associate at CSIS. A specialist on issues of democratization and governance across Anglophone Africa, he served as the first regional democracy and governance adviser for eastern and southern Africa at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), from 1992 to 1994. Since then, he has straddled the worlds of academe and policy by consulting extensively for USAID, the UN Development Program, the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, and the World Bank. Dr. Barkan has been a visiting fellow at the U.S. Institute of Peace (1997-1998), the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (2001-2002), the University of Cape Town (2004, 2005, and 2007), and the National Endowment for Democracy (2000 and 2005-2006). He has written extensively on democratization and governance, including articles in Foreign Affairs, American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Democracy, and World Politics. He received his A.B. from Cornell University and his Ph.D. in political science and African studies from the University of California at Los Angeles.
Carolyn Logan Deputy Director of the Afrobarometer, Michigan State University
Carolyn Logan is Deputy Director of the Afrobarometer, and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science and the African Studies Center at Michigan State University. She received her Ph.D. in International Relations from the Fletcher School at Tufts University in 2002. Logan's research focuses on political development in Africa, especially in East Africa and the Horn. She has published recently on a variety of topics, include popular perceptions of traditional leaders relative to elected leaders, public attitudes toward opposition parties and their role in the political system, and the relative prevalence of subject vs. citizen attitudes among African electorates.
Mitchell A. Seligson Centennial Professor, Political Science, Vanderbilt University
Mitchell A. Seligson is the Centennial Professor of Political Science at Vanderbilt University and is also a Fellow of the Center for the Americas and a Fellow of the Vanderbilt Center for Nashville Studies. He founded and directs the Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP), which conducts the Americas Barometer surveys that currently cover over 20 countries in the Americas. LAPOP has conducted over 100 surveys of public opinion, mainly focused on democracy, in many countries in Latin America, but has also included projects in Africa and the Balkans. For details, see www.LapopSurveys.org. Prior to joining the faculty at Vanderbilt, he held the Daniel H. Wallace Chair of Political Science at the University of Pittsburgh, and also served there as director of the Center for Latin American Studies. His most recent books are The Legitimacy Puzzle: Democracy and Support in Latin America (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming), co-authored with John Booth, and Development and Underdevelopment, the Political Economy of Global Inequality (Fourth Edition, forthcoming Lynne Reinner Publishers, co-edited with John Passé-Smith). He has chaired or co-chaired over 25 Ph.D. dissertations.
Defense and Security in Latin America: The Merida Security Initiative
April Hahn (Moderator)
Strategies Division, Regional Coordinator for Latin America and the Caribbean, Office of Democracy and Governance (USAID)
April Hahn joined USAID in 2000 and currently serves as the Regional Coordinator for Latin America and the Caribbean on Strategic Planning and Research Division. Her geographical experience includes Latin America, Asia and Middle East. Her country backstops in the DG Office are Cuba and Ecuador. She has working knowledge of Spanish. From 2002 to 2007, April served as the Asia and Near East Coordinator on the Election and Political Process Division and as backstop for Afghanistan and Pakistan. April holds a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia in International Relations.
Steven E. Hendrix USAID/Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)
Since August 2007, Mr. Hendrix has served with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Central America and Mexico Desk, representing USAID on inter-agency teams with the National Security Council (NSC), and the Departments of State, Homeland Security, Defense and Justice, defining the White House's $1.4 billion Mérida Initiative. From 2005-2007, he was USAID/Nicaragua’s Democracy Team Leader, and prior to that, from 2002-2005, he served as USAID’s Latin America and Caribbean Bureau (LAC) Team Leader for Democracy. Earlier in his career, he worked with USAID/Guatemala on justice programs, and with USAID's Research and Development, and Science and Technology/Global Bureaus, through a cooperative agreement with the University of Wisconsin Land Tenure Center. Back in the 1980s, he was in private law practice in Caracas, Venezuela, and served in the General Counsel's office at the Export-Import Bank. Mr. Hendrix has over 100 professional publications, an award-winning book in Spanish, and newspaper editorials in Spanish and English.
Marcela Donadio Security Network on Security and Defense in Latin America
Marcela Donadio is the Executive Secretary of RESDAL (Security Network on Security and Defense in Latin America), a regional initiative promoting the institutional development of security and defense functions in Latin American democracies. Mrs. Donadio has a PhD in Political Sciences (Universidad Católica Argentina - UCA) and a Master degree on Social Sciences (FLACSO Argentina). Her graduate degree is in Political Science (Universidad del Salvador). She has received several fellowships from the National Research Council in Argentina (CONICET). She is the Director of the Comparative Atlas on Defense in Latin America (2005 and 2007 editions), publication containing basic data on defense structures in sixteen latin American countries. She has served as Coordinator of the UNDP Project on Strenghtening of Public Security Institutions in Argentina, devoted to the public security budgetary decision making in civilian and police institutions (UNDP ARG 06-01).
Lainie Reisman Washington Office on Latin America
Lainie Reisman is a Senior Associate working on issues related to youth gangs, human rights, and prevention in Central America at the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA). She has been working on Latin American social and economic issues since 1993. Based in Guatemala between 2000 – 2005, she worked with the United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA) and at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as the Team Leader for the Peace Program for Guatemala . She became closely involved with youth at risk issues while at USAID, spearheading two successful programs on youth at risk and gang members, the first implementing prevention and rehabilitation/ reincorporation activities and the second emphasizing rural youth leadership and interculturality. Upon her return to the United States, Lainie became Director of the Inter-American Coalition for the Prevention of Violence (the “IACPV”), where she developed the Coalition’s Central American gang program as well as programs establishing violence observatories. She holds a Master’s Degree from the London School of Economics. In 2007, Lainie testified before the U.S. Congressional Foreign Affairs Committee (Western Hemisphere Sub-committee) on violence in Central America. She has addressed audiences in Latin America, North America, and Europe regarding gangs and has served as an expert witness on over 20 asylum cases related to gang violence. Lainie also served as a Senior Advisor on Gang Issues for the USAID Central American and Mexico Gang Assessment and is a founding member of the Central American Coalition for the Prevention of Youth Violence.
Clare Ribando Seelke
Congressional Research Service
More information coming soon...
Youth: Empowering Civic Actors (11:00 - 12:30)
Christine Adamczyk (Moderator) Civil Society Division, Office of Democracy and Governance Office (USAID)
Christine Adamczyk began joined the Civil Society division after managing democracy, education and health programs in Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, India, Paraguay, and Peru. She is working on civic education and NGO projects in the DG office. Christine, a career Foreign Service Officers, earned her B.A. from Michigan State and M.Sc. from University of Michigan.
Ron Israel Vice President, Education Development Center
Ron Israel is Vice President at Education Development Center, where he serves as Director of the Global Learning Group. During his tenure in this position, EDC has become a leader in the field of international formal and non-formal education and human capacity development. Mr. Israel has worked with groups of scholars and teachers from countries around the world, facilitating projects within a broad array of cultural settings. He has more than twenty years of consulting and project management experience in the fields of education, health, the environment, and civil society programs. He has consulted for a variety of EDC clients including USAID, the United Nations Development Programme, UNESCO, UNICEF, WHO, and the World Bank.
Bonney Mattingly Project Director, Youth Empowerment through Conflict Resolution (MAR/AFSC)
Ms. Mattingly is the Youth Empowerment through Conflict Resolution Project Director for the Middle Atlantic Region (MAR) of American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). While most of her work is focused in Baltimore, she facilitates work throughout the Middle Atlantic Region, which spans from Virginia to New York. AFSC's Help Increase the Peace (HIP) project provides the foundation for Ms. Mattingly's work. Since its inception in 1991 in Syracuse, NY as a response to youth violence, HIP has been used in over 30 states and 10 countries worldwide. Ms. Mattingly is currently revising and editing the 4th Edition of the HIP manual, as well as an educational funding and opportunities guide for Baltimore area students. Ms. Mattingly previously worked for St. Vincent Pallotti Center, an organization that serves and supports national and international volunteers before, during, and after their terms of service. Ms. Mattingly holds a MA in Pastoral Ministry with a focus on Counseling and Psychology from Boston College.
Gracy Obuchowicz Grants Writer, WVSA Arts
Gracy Obuchowicz has promoted leadership with adolescents for over 10 years. Ms. Obuchowicz began her involvement with youth issues during her leadership with the Youth of Unity, a UN-recognized, international youth peace organization. In addition to planning leadership conferences for as many as 500 teens and adults, she represented the organization by traveling nationally and internationally to speak at events. Recently, she served over two years in the Peace Corps as a youth development volunteer in the Peruvian Andes, working with youth, families, and teachers to promote the goals of healthy lifestyle development, increasing work skills and opportunities, and community leadership. Currently, Ms. Obuchowicz is the Grants Writer for WVSA arts, a Washington D.C.-based non-profit organization that provides an arts-infused education to children and young adults with special needs. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Photojournalism from University of Missouri-Columbia, and studied anthropology during a semester abroad at University of Edinburgh in Scotland.
Ashok Regmi Director, International Youth Foundation
Ashok Regmi is a Director at the International Youth Foundation. A native of Nepal, Ashok provides overall leadership to the YouthActionNet program at the International Youth Foundation, including resource development, partner identification, and strategic expansion. Prior to working at IYF, Ashok has worked in both private and public sectors including the Ministry of Information of the Government of Nepal, UBS Warburg, and Center for Civil Society Studies at Johns Hopkins University, and as a Budget Development Specialist for Trumbull Education Board in Connecticut. Ashok has worked with the members of Nepalese Parliament in addressing youth issues of Nepal. He was the founding member of Kathmandu FM, where he conducted radio programs on social issues. A youth development specialist, Ashok brings array of experience in designing programs, developing multi-sector partnership, and organizational development. Ashok sits on the board of two organizations including “Pratisthapan”, an NGO based in Nepal, and “LLC” based in San Francisco, a consortium of more than 200 institutions focusing on leadership development. Ashok has received numerous awards and fellowships, including the Academic and Leadership Excellence Award, Suffolk Fellowship, and Archer Fellowship. Ashok graduated from University of Bridgeport with Bachelors of Arts in International Political Economy and Diplomacy. He went on to earn his Masters in Public Policy from Johns Hopkins University, where he founded the Cooperative Learning Exchange Group. Ashok is fluent in English, Nepali, Hindi and Urdu.
Paul Sully Senior Youth Advisor, Global Learning Group, Education Development Center
Mr. Sully is the Senior Youth Advisor for the Global Learning Group within the Education Development Center. He has worked extensively with youth and adults from over 30 countries on organizational and leadership development. Most recently, he served four years as the EDC Project Director of EQUIP3, a USAID Leader with Associates and consortium of 13 international non-profit organizations focusing on preparing and engaging youth in work, community, and family life. For 10 years he was the lead global technical specialist for Youth and Community Development for the US Peace Corps. He supported 16 new national youth programs and numerous cross-sectoral programming efforts, authored youth program development guidance, and published Working with Youth: A Guide for Volunteers, which is distributed worldwide. Other positions include: Executive Director for the Youth Enrichment Program, District Manager for the National Cooperative Business Association, and Family Life Educator. Mr. Sully worked in youth efforts in government and non-governmental agencies addressing health, agricultural, environmental, civic, small business, and educational sectors in the U.S. and numerous countries in the Caribbean, Latin America, the Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa. He lived and worked in Colombia, Liberia and Swaziland. He has founded advisory committees and served on Boards advancing youth development and leadership. Mr. Sully holds an MA in Cultural Anthropology from the State University of New York at Buffalo
Felix Unogwu Children and Youth Specialist, Search for Common Ground
Felix Unogwu is the Children and Youth Specialist at Search for common Ground, a leading conflict resolution organization. He was born in Benue State, Nigeria, a small state dominated by larger and more powerful neighboring states. As a result of this dominance, dispute resolution is a necessary survival skill for most people from Benue State. He migrated to Sweden as a young adult where he co-founded an immigrant Human Rights association that addressed some the prevailing social-political issues confronting immigrants and minority groups at the time. The organization amongst other things produced country human right profiles for public scrutiny, provided orientations to new immigrants, and designed bridge-building programs that accelerated communication between Swedes and immigrants. After 7 years of managing the organization and completing a Master's in political science, he moved to the US for postgraduate studies in conflict resolution at the University of Massachusetts. Between 2006 and 2008, he worked as the director for Washington Quaker Workcamps at William Penn house, a Quaker center on Capitol Hill in Washington DC. During this time, he helped redesign the youth leadership program to become an active and holistic youth service that included policy analysis, advocacy, and lobbying.
Deepening Democracy: Civil Society and Local Governance (11:00 - 12:30)
Ed Connerley (Moderator) Senior Advisor for Decentralization and Local Governance, Office of Democracy and Governance (USAID)
Ed Connerley joined the Office of Democracy and Governance in 2001. He is a member of the Governance division and serves as Senior Advisor for Decentralization and Local Governance. Ed provides technical leadership, field support and program management services in support of USAID field programs in support of governmental decentralization and local government strengthening. He is also a member of the Office Africa Team and serves as country backstop for Mozambique and Angola. Ed speaks Portuguese, Spanish and Swahili, in descending order of competency. His career includes previous service with AID/Washington (1982-87), several years of university teaching and short-term international development consulting assignments in approximately 40 countries. He holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Nebraska and an MPA and Ph.D. in Public Administration from the University of Southern California.
Patrick Heller
Associate Professor, Sociology, Brown University
Patrick Heller is an associate professor of Sociology at Brown University. His area of research is the comparative study of democratic deepening, with a particular focus on India, South Africa and Brazil. He is the author of The Labor of Development: Workers and the Transformation of Capitalism in India (Cornell University Press, 1999) and a co-author of Social Democracy in the Global Periphery: Origins, Challenges, Prospects (Cambridge University Press, 2007). He has published articles on civil society, democratic consolidation, political economy, decentralization and middle class politics.
Gina M. S. Lambright Assistant Professor, Political Science and International Affairs, George Washington University
Gina M. S. Lambright is an Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at George Washington University. Her research interests include political reform, decentralization, political institutions, and the politics of development in Africa. She has conducted and published research on party systems and voter turnout in Africa’s new multiparty regimes in journals, such as Party Politics and Comparative Political Studies (with Michelle Kuenzi) and on Uganda’s 2000 referendum in African Affairs (with Michael Bratton).
Vijayendra Rao The World Bank
Vijayendra Rao is Lead Economist with the Development Research Group at the World Bank. He is editor (with Michael Walton) Culture and Public Action (Palo Alto: Stanford University Press, 2004), and was a member of the core team of authors of World Development Report 2006: Equity and Development (World Bank and Oxford University Press, 2005). He has published articles that combine theories and methods from economics, with ethnography and social theory, to analyze caste and ethnicity, dowries, domestic violence, sex worker behavior, culture and development, community development, and village governance.
The Three D's: A Longer Term View (1:30 - 3:00)
Michael Henning (Moderator) Division Chief, Elections & Political Processes Division, Office of Democracy and Governance (USAID)
Michael Henning joined USAID in 1994. He has been the Chief of the Elections & Political Processes Division since August 2007. This division supports elections administration, political party strengthening, and other political processes issues. The division manages several central contracts and grants, including the large CEPPS mechanism, as well as the EPP Fund which has totaled over $27 million since FY06. The division has eight full time staff and a couple of "adjunct" members from other divisions and bureaus. Prior to joining DCHA/DG, Mr. Henning served as the Director of the Democracy Office at USAID/Bosnia from 2002-2006 and in the Philippines from 1997-2000, and also worked in ANE/EA, PPC/DEM, EE/DGST and F/EAP. He speaks Bosnian, Filipino, and French and his regional specializations are East Asia and Eastern Europe & Eurasia. Mr. Henning has served as the USAID representative to the Governing Board of the American Foreign Service Association since 2006. He has an M.A. in International Relations from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University and a B.A. from Georgetown University.
Ambassador Gene Dewey Former Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM)
Ambassador Gene Dewey served as Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration from 2002-2005. In this capacity he was responsible for overseeing United States Government policies regarding population, refugee and international migration issues and managing over $700 million in allocations for refugee protection, resettlement, and humanitarian assistance programs annually. Mr. Dewey’s public and private career background cuts across several practitioner disciplines: military; diplomatic; United Nations, and nongovernmental organizations. By the time of his retirement in June 2005, Gene Dewey had helped shape the return of over four million refugees to Afghanistan. Mr. Dewey is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point (’56) and received his Master’s degree from Princeton University.
Colonel Michael Meese, Ph.D.
Professor and Head of the Department of Social Sciences at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point
Colonel Michael J. Meese is a Professor, U.S. Military Academy, and Head of the Department of Social Sciences at West Point. He teaches economics and national security courses and leads the 70 military and civilian faculty members in the Department and the Combating Terrorism Center who teach political science, economics, and terrorism-related courses. From June to September 2007, he worked as a senior advisor to the Commander of Multinational Force-Iraq as the Chief of his Initiatives Group to assist in General Petraeus’s assessment, recommendations, and testimony concerning Iraq. From January-March 2007, he assisted with the development of Iraq campaign plan, concentrating on economic and political issues. In 2004-05, he served as the Executive Director of the Secretary of the Army’s Transition Team. He has also assisted with the evaluation of and transformation of the South African National Defense Force. Colonel Meese has written extensively on defense economics, terrorism, and national security issues. He also serves on the Defense Science Board Panel on Improvised Explosive Devices. He is a field artillery officer with previous assignments with the 101st Airborne Division in Mosul, Iraq, with the Stabilization Force Headquarters in Bosnia-Herzegovina conducting peacekeeping and counterterrorism operations, and with other units in Germany and the United States. He is a graduate of the National War College, Command and General Staff College, U.S. Military Academy, and holds a Ph.D., MPA and an M.A. from Princeton University.
Improving Evaluation of Democracy Promotion Projects (1:30 - 3:00)
David Black (Moderator) Regional Coordinator for Europe & Eurasia in the Strategic Planning and Research Division in DCHA/DG
David Black has served with USAID since 1994, including four years as the Senior Democracy Advisor for Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova based in Kyiv, Ukraine, and a year as the Democracy Office Director for the USAID/Kosovo Mission based in Pristina. He currently is a member of the Strategic Planning and Research Division in DCHA/DG where he is the Regional Coordinator for Europe & Eurasia and manages a set of research initiatives to improve evaluation of democracy assistance programs. He speaks Russian and has lived and studied extensively in the Europe and Eurasia region. He holds a B.A. from Colgate University and an M.A. in International Relations from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University.
Jack A. Goldstone Hazel Professor and Director of the Center for Global Policy, George Mason University
Jack A. Goldstone (Ph.D. Harvard University) is Hazel Professor and Director of the Center for Global Policy at George Mason University, and a Scholar at the Mercatus Center. He is the author of Revolution and Rebellion in the Early Modern World (California 1991), and editor of The Encyclopedia of Political Revolutions (Congressional Quarterly 1998). He has received the Distinguished Contribution to Scholarship award of the American Sociological Association, the Arnoldo Momigliano Prize of the Historical Society, and fellowships from the ACLS and the MacArthur Foundation. Professor Goldstone has written or edited ten books and over one hundred academic articles or essays on topics ranging from demography and conflict to long-term social and economic change. He has been a consultant to the US State Department and the US Agency for International Development on support for fragile states. He is currently editor of Foreign Policy Bulletin and recently chaired a National Academy of Sciences research committee on evaluations of US democracy assistance.
Mitchell A. Seligson Centennial Professor, Political Science, Vanderbilt University
Mitchell A. Seligson is the Centennial Professor of Political Science at Vanderbilt University and is also a Fellow of the Center for the Americas and a Fellow of the Vanderbilt Center for Nashville Studies. He founded and directs the Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP), which conducts the Americas Barometer surveys that currently cover over 20 countries in the Americas. LAPOP has conducted over 100 surveys of public opinion, mainly focused on democracy, in many countries in Latin America, but has also included projects in Africa and the Balkans. For details, see www.LapopSurveys.org. Prior to joining the faculty at Vanderbilt, he held the Daniel H. Wallace Chair of Political Science at the University of Pittsburgh, and also served there as director of the Center for Latin American Studies. His most recent books are The Legitimacy Puzzle: Democracy and Support in Latin America (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming), co-authored with John Booth, and Development and Underdevelopment, the Political Economy of Global Inequality (Fourth Edition, forthcoming Lynne Reinner Publishers, co-edited with John Passé-Smith). He has chaired or co-chaired over 25 Ph.D. dissertations
Jodi Lee Nelson, Ph.D.
Director, Research & Evaluation, International Rescue Committee
More information coming soon...
Devra C. Moehler Strategies Team, Office of Democracy and Governance (USAID) and Assistant Professor, Department of Government, Cornell University
Devra C. Moehler is a World Learning Democracy Fellow in the USAID Office of Democracy and Governance, and an Assistant Professor of Government at Cornell University. Moehler served as a field consultant to Uganda for the National Academy of Sciences project on improving evaluation of USAID democracy assistance programs. Moehler studies comparative politics with a focus on democratization, democracy and governance promotion, political communication and knowledge, political behavior, constitution-making, and African politics. She is the author of Distrusting Democrats: Outcomes of Participatory Constitution-Making (2008, University of Michigan Press). Her current research employs a randomized field experiment to investigate how mass media can facilitate good governance and democratic development. Moehler received a Ph.D. degree in political science from the University of Michigan and a B.A. in development studies from the University of California, Berkeley.
The Global Food Crisis and Food Insecurity: A Governance Challenge (1:30 - 3:00)
Cate Johnson (Moderator) Deputy Director Office of Democracy and Governance (USAID)
Cate Johnson joined USAID in 1994 and currently serves as Deputy Director of the Office of Democracy and Governance, where she assists the Director in all aspects of senior management. She served in both USAID/Caucasus and USAID/Romania as Office Director for democracy programs, and in this capacity worked in all four sub-sectors of DG promotion. Cate has a strong background in health and nutrition, has academic expertise in conflict resolution, and oversaw the child welfare and family health portfolios in Romania. She has worked in all four geographic regions and speaks Spanish, Romanian, and German. From 1995-2000, Cate served as Program Officer for USAID’s Women’s Legal Rights initiative, where she helped launch USAID’s first efforts to curtail human trafficking and gender-based violence. Prior to joining USAID, Cate lived and worked in low-income community settings in both Latin America and Africa, where she conducted research in food security and maternal child health for UNICEF, Cornell University, the University of Malawi, and Tufts University. Cate holds a Ph.D. from Tufts University in International Nutrition, and will soon complete a Graduate Certificate in World Religions, Diplomacy, and Conflict Resolution from George Mason University. She has served on the faculty at Cornell University, Tulane University, and The George Washington University.
Marc Cohen
International Food Policy Research Institute
Marc Cohen is a Research Fellow in IFPRI's Food Consumption and Nutrition Division. His current research focuses on global and national institutions and policy processes related to food security and nutrition, global humanitarian aid policy, conflict and food security, post-crisis reconstruction, the right to adequate food, the impact of food aid on community empowerment, gender and rural services, and the effects of climate change and biofuel development on health and nutrition. Cohen, a U.S. citizen, joined IFPRI in 1998, and was previously Special Assistant to the Director General. From 1991 to 1997, he edited the annual world hunger report at Bread for the World (USA). He earned his B.A. in French at Carleton College, and his M.A. and Ph.D. in political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is a professorial lecturer in international development at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University.
Caroline Sahley Democracy Officer, Elections and Political Processes Division, Office of Democracy and Governance (USAID)
Caroline Sahley joined USAID's Office of Democracy and Governance in 2002, and currently serves as a Democracy Officer in the Elections and Political Processes Division (EPP). Carol provides technical assistance to missions in the design and implementation of election and political party programs. Prior to joining EPP, Carol served as a Senior Democracy Fellow in the Civil Society Division, where she worked on civil society programming. There she led an inter-office initiative to assess the links between governance and food security. Prior to joining USAID, Carol was an associate with the International NGO Training and Research Center (INTRAC) where she undertook numerous assignments overseas on issues relating to civil society development and urban poverty alleviation. She holds a BA in Political Science from the University of Florida, and a Ph.D. from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Cheryl Morden International Fund for Agricultural Development
Cheryl Morden is the Director of the North American Liaison Office of the International Fund for Agricultural Development. In that capacity, she works to mobilize resources, influence policy, and build partnerships on behalf of IFAD’s efforts to enable the rural poor to overcome poverty. Prior to joining IFAD, she served as Director of Policy and Communications for the International Center for Research on Women. Until 1998, she was the Associate Director for Development Policy for Church World Service and Lutheran World Relief. She has managed policy advocacy initiatives and education and mobilization campaigns involving coalitions of non-governmental and international organizations on a variety of international development issues, including foreign aid reform, hunger and food security, and gender and development. She holds a master’s degree in international development education from the University of Pittsburgh.
Middle Eastern Political Opposition Movements - A Closer Look (1:30 - 3:00)
Joshua Kaufman (Moderator) Acting Chief, Strategies Division, Office of Democracy and Governance (USAID)
Joshua Kaufman joined USAID in 1996 and currently serves as Acting Division Chief of the Strategic Planning and Research (SAR) Division. In this role Josh manages the office’s regional coordinators that serve as the primary office liaisons with DG Officers, USAID and State Regional Bureaus and F. DG/SAR also manages a long-term project designed to improve the state of the art in performance measurement and evaluation for DG programs. Josh is the Office’s main liaison with F when it comes to developing DG policy, strategy, program, and budget priorities. Josh has also served as the Office’s ANE regional coordinator (2000-2007) as well as the E&E Coordinator (1998-2000). Prior to that Josh managed the Office’s Information Unit. Josh has a Master’s Degree in International Affairs from The George Washington University and a Bachelors degree in Politics and Peace and Conflict Studies from Brandeis University.
Daniel Brumberg Special Adviser for the USIP’s Muslim World Initiative
Daniel Brumberg serves as a special adviser for the USIP’s Muslim World Initiative in the Center for Conflict Analysis and Prevention, where he focuses on issues of democratization and political reform in the Middle East and wider Islamic world. He is also an associate professor at Georgetown University and a former senior associate in the Carnegie Endowment’s Democracy and Rule of Law Project. A member of the editorial board of the Journal of Democracy and the advisory board of the International Forum on Democratic Studies, Brumberg is also chairman of the nonprofit Foundation on Democratization and Political Change in the Middle East. He has worked closely with a number of nongovernmental organizations in the Arab world, including the Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs. Brumberg is also a member of the editorial board of the American Political Science Association’s Political Science and Politics. He received his B.A. from Indiana University and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago.
Owen Kirby Senior Advisor, Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs (NEA), U.S. Department of State
Owen Kirby is a Senior Advisor for the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs (NEA) at the Department of State. Responsible for the oversight of political reform programming in the NEA region supported through the Office of the Middle East Partnership (MEPI). Prior to joining the Department, was the Director of the Middle East and North Africa Division at the International Republican Institute (IRI).
Oliver Wilcox Near East Democracy Advisor (USAID)
Oliver Wilcox is Democracy and Governance Advisor, Middle East Bureau, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), where he provides analysis, develops strategies and programs and works on interagency planning. Previously, he completed docotral studies and earned an M.A. in political science from the University of Virginia, as well as an M.A. with a distinction in Arab studies from Georgetown University. He also held American Center for Oriental Research and Fulbright Fellowships. Mr. Wilcox graduated with honors in political science and Spanish from Tufts University.
Political Will or Political Leadership? Engaging the Person Behind the Decision
Neil Levine (Moderator)
Director of the Office of Conflict Management and Mitigation in the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance (USAID)
Neil A. Levine is the Director of the Office of Conflict Management and Mitigation in the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance at the U.S. Agency for International Development. From 2000-2007, he headed the Governance Division of USAID's Office of Democracy and Governance where he initiated an effort to explore leadership development as a potential new line of operations in democracy promotion. Mr. Levine earned a Masters Degree in National Security Strategy from the National War College in 2008. Before coming to USAID, he spent 10 years on Capitol Hill as a legislative assistant for foreign policy for members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He has a M.I.A. from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs and a B.A. from Earlham College.
Joanne Ciulla, Ph.D. Coston Family Chair in Leadership and Ethics, Jepson School of Leadership Studies, University of Richmond
Dr. Ciulla, a founding faculty member of the Jepson School of Leadership Studies at the University of Richmond, teaches courses on ethics, critical thinking, conflict resolution, and leadership in international contexts. Dr. Ciulla was the first person to hold the UNESCO Chair in Leadership Studies at the United Nations University International Leadership Academy, where she developed leadership training programs for emerging leaders from all over the world. She has held numerous academic appointments at La Salle University, the Harvard Business School, The Wharton School, and Oxford University. She received the 2003 Outstanding Faculty Award from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. Primarily focusing on leadership ethics, business ethics, international leadership and the philosophy of work, Dr. Ciulla consults on ethics and leadership programs with universities, businesses, and government agencies in the United States and overseas. She has co-authored a business ethics text called Honest Work: A Business Ethics Reader and co-edited a collection of essays called The Quest for Ethical Leaders: Essays in Leadership Ethics. Dr. Ciulla is now researching her next book on the origins of ethics and leadership. She has also presented at The World Economic Forum, The Brookings Institution and the Aspen Institute. She has appeared on numerous TV and radio programs and was featured in Bill Moyers' "World of Ideas II" series. Dr. Ciulla obtained her Bachelors from University of Maryland, her Masters in Philosophy from the University of Delaware, and her Ph.D. in Philosophy from Temple University.
Robert Herman, Ph.D. Director of Programs, Freedom House
Dr. Herman has more than twenty-five years of experience in democracy promotion and human rights. He is presently Director of Programs for Freedom House, where he oversees a range of programs in the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Eurasia. Before joining Freedom House he was Senior Technical Director for Democracy and Governance at Management Systems International. He was the co-founder and co-director of the Democracy Coalition Project, a global democracy promotion initiative of the Open Society Institute and previously served on the State Department’s Policy Planning staff working on democracy and human rights and playing an instrumental role in launching the Community of Democracies, the first ever gathering of democratic states dedicated to strengthening democratic institutions, practices and values worldwide. As Senior Social Scientist with USAID’s Bureau for Europe and the New Independent States of the former Soviet Union, Dr. Herman helped to craft U.S. assistance strategies to countries making the transition from communist rule. He has held positions with the Brookings Institution, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, U.S. Mission to NATO in Brussels and served as a staff member in the U.S. Congress. He earned his Ph.D. in Government from Cornell University having written his dissertation on the political and intellectual origins of the Gorbachev Revolution. He received a Masters degree from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs (Princeton University) and a Bachelor’s degree from Swarthmore College.
Robert R. LaGamma Executive Director and Member of the Board of Directors, Council for a Community of Democracies
Mr. LaGamma has been CCD’s Executive Director since its founding in 2001. Before that he served for 36 years in the Foreign Service of the United States Information Agency prior to his retirement. During that time he directed USIS offices in South Africa, Nigeria, Senegal, Togo and Florence, Italy and was Director of USIA’s Office of African Affairs. He designed U.S. Government democracy initiatives for both Nigeria and South Africa that were funded by USAID, he organized the first White House Conference on Africa in 1995 and USIA’s Atlanta Conference on South Africa, Investing in People, in 1994. During his final tour in South Africa he was responsible for organizing a major conference for Africa on civic education, CIVITAS. He is a recipient of USIA’s Edward R. Murrow award for excellence in public diplomacy. Before coming to CCD he was been a senior fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy, managed the Carter Center’s election monitoring project in Nigeria, was a consultant for the National Democratic Institute in the Congo and an Inspector with the Office of the Inspector General of the State Department. For the past four years he has been a Commissioner on the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO.
Stephen Schwenke, Ph.D. Team Leader – Civil Society and Governance, Creative Associates International
Dr. Schwenke has comprehensive international experience in public policy, teaching and mentoring, project and team management, and project application in a wide range of international development, democracy, conflict, and governance issues, for USAID, the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, leading NGOs, and others. He has a particular expertise in applied ethics, procurement, leadership training, integrity strengthening, and local governance. He earned his Ph.D. at the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland, with a particular research focus on normative aspects of urban governance. He has written extensively on the topic of development ethics – including issues of leadership, integrity and anti-corruption, conflict, education, procurement, and codes of ethics – and presented several papers on this topic at conferences and workshops. He is also an Adjunct Professor at both the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) of the Johns Hopkins University, and at Georgetown University’s Public Policy Institute, where he teaches courses in applied ethics in international development. Dr. Schwenke was a Fulbright professor of ethics at Makerere University in Uganda from 2005 to 2006. He was also resident in Kenya for ten years, where he established and managed a development consulting firm in Nairobi, ultimately with offices in Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya and Zimbabwe. He spent a further three years based in Durban, South Africa, where he established and managed the country office of a major international consulting firm. He has been on the permanent staff of Creative Associates since July of 2007.
Is Democracy Retreating in the World? (Closing Session 3:30 - 5:00)
Dorothy Douglas Taft (Moderator/Closing Remarks)
Director of the Office of Democracy and Governance (USAID)
Dorothy Douglas Taft has served as Director of the Office of Democracy and Governance since October 2007. Over the previous 12 years, Ms. Taft served as Chief and Deputy Chief of Staff for the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (the Helsinki Commission). With the Commission’s focus on the policies and practices of 56 countries of Europe, Eurasia and the Caucasus, and the mandate of the OSCE, Ms. Taft gave particular attention to the promotion of the rule of law, civil society and democratic institutions, and protection of basic human rights. Ms. Taft served as a Professional Staff Member for the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee during 1993-1994, and as Legislative Assistant to Rep. Christopher Smith (NJ) from 1985-1993. A native of Birmingham, Alabama, she studied history and graduated with Honors, earning her Bachelor of Arts degree from Old Dominion University (Norfolk, Virginia).
Susan R. Johnson Senior Coordinator for Democracy Promotion, State Department, Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
Susan R. Johnson joined the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor in early 2007 as Senior Coordinator for Democracy Promotion. Throughout her career at State, she has served in a wide range of geographic and functional bureaus and posts, including at the U.S. Interests Section in Cuba, the U.S. Mission to the United Nations (USUN), the Office of the Under Secretary for Political Affairs, as well as in Mauritius, Russia, Pakistan, Romania, Iraq and Bosnia and has broad bilateral, multilateral, inter-agency, and legislative experience. Many of her assignments took her outside the State Department. Most recently she served as Deputy High Representative and Supervisor of Brcko District with the Office of the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where she worked on reconstruction and democratic institution building in a multiethnic post-conflict situation. Ms. Johnson earned an M.A. in International Relations from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and a B.A. in History, summa cum laude, from Principia College, Elsah, Illinois.
Steven Levitsky Professor of Government, Harvard University
Steven Levitsky is Professor of Government at Harvard University. His research interests include political parties, variation in institutional strength, informal institutions, and political regimes and regime change, with a focus on Latin America. He is author of Transforming Labor-Based Parties in Latin America: Argentine Peronism in Comparative Perspective (2003) and co-editor of Argentine Democracy: The Politics of Institutional Weakness (2005) and Informal Institutions and Democracy: Lessons from Latin America (2006). He is currently finish a book (with Lucan Way) on the emergence and trajectory of competitive authoritarian regimes in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and post-communist Eurasia, and he is editing a book (with Kenneth Roberts) on the rise of the Left in contemporary Latin America.
Jennifer Windsor Executive Director, Freedom House
Jennifer L. Windsor became the Executive Director of Freedom House in January 2001. Freedom House is a non-partisan, non-profit organization which supports the expansion of freedom in the world through its analysis, advocacy, and action. Freedom House's flagship publication, Freedom in the World, is an annual comparative assessment of the state of political rights and civil liberties in every country in the world. Freedom House conducts a variety of overseas programs including support to human rights defenders, civic groups, and independent media in Africa, Central Asia, the Middle East, Central and Eastern Europe, and Latin America. From 1991 to 2001, Jennifer worked at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), serving as the Deputy Assistant Administrator and Director of the Center for Democracy and Governance. Ms. Windsor is a graduate of the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University and Harvard University. Ms. Windsor has served as an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University, and has written numerous articles on democracy and has regularly appeared on NPR, BBC, VOA and other news outlets.
