work experience:
Open Society Foundations (OSF) March 2014 – present
Senior Adviser, Eurasia Program,Istanbul, Turkey
Managed the OSF’s strategic rethink and design of the new Eurasia program including 12 countries and 7 national foundations from Moldova to Tajikistan.Supervised the preparation of the Eurasia Programs 2015 budget and workplan. Worked in close cooperation with OSF’s national foundation in Ukraine, to design and help set up Strategic Advisory Groups (SAGs) for reform with local ministries and a National Reform Council (NRC) with the Presidential administration. Assessed and evaluated other emergency projects including in Moldova, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan (work ongoing).
International Crisis Group (ICG) July 2004 – May 2013
Europe Program Director, Istanbul, Turkey. February 2007 – May 2013
Managedthe program’s research and advocacy agenda, coordinated and supervised analysis and research, conducted high level advocacy and regular media work in Europe and the United States. Oversaw the Balkans,Turkey/Cyprus, South and North Caucasus projects. Prepared analytical report and policy recommendations. Managed 13 staff across the region, responsible forprogram budgets, strategies andworkplans.
Caucasus Project Director. Tbilisi, Georgia. July 2004 – February 2007.
Managed offices in Tbilisi, Baku and Yerevan. Conducted research, drafted reports, engaged in advocacy and media work.
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
Political Advisor/Gender expertElections Observation
Mission Georgian Presidential Elections. 8 December – 24 January 2004and
Azerbaijan Presidential Elections. 11 September – 4 November 2003
Human Dimensions/Legal Expert/Gender Specialist(Level: P3). Tashkent,
Uzbekistan
OSCE Central Asia Liaison Office, contracted staff, January 1999 – October 2000
Community Development Coordinator, Multi-ethnic Women’s Rights network Project Manager(Level: P3)
. Democratization Department, Sarajevo
OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina,US government seconded, February 1997 - October 1998
Field Officer (Democratization). Tuzla Regional Center.
OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, US government seconded, July 1996 - February 1997
The Lutheran World Federation
Field Officer. Ex-Yugoslavia Emergency Program.
Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, July 1994 – June 1995.
Hungarian Interchurch Aid.
Team Member. Chechnya emergency assessment mission,
Dagestan and Hungary, March 1995
Assistant. Hungary and Ex-Yugoslavia Emergency Programme,
November1992 - April 1993
International Organization for Migrations
Research Intern. Division of Research and Forum Activities.
Geneva, Switzerland – January-March, 1992
Education:
Ph.D., Department of Social Policy, November 2004. The London School of Economics and Political Science,Center for Civil Society and Center for Global Governance. Lord Dahrendorf Scholar.
Dissertation title: “What Civil Society After Civil War? A Study of Civil Society and Women’s Rights Organizations’ Effect on Peace Consolidation in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Tajikistan.”
Supervisors: Dr. Mary Kaldor and Dr. David Lewis.
International Diploma in Humanitarian Assistance, August 1998. City University of New York, Hunter College, Center for International Health and Cooperation. Four-week intensive multi-disciplinary course on responding to complex emergencies. (Led by Dr. Kevin Cahill and Larry Hollingworth).
M.A. in European Politics and Administration, July 1996. The College of Europe, Bruges, Belgium.
Fulbright Fellow. Graduated with High Honors (16/20). Thesis topic: "Towards a European Civilian Security Policy: EU humanitarian and rehabilitation programmes in the Former Yugoslavia?"
B.A. in Political Science, June 1994. Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, USA
Graduated with Honors. Thesis: "The International Community and the Development of Nationalism."
Publications:
Regularly publish editorials including in European Voice, the International Herald Tribune, Today’s Zaman, Open Democracy and Atlantic Council’s New Atlantist blog. Authored or co-authored some 70 reports for Crisis Group.
Contributed chapters to edited books including: “Central Asian Fragmented Civil Society: Communal and Neo-Liberal Forms of Civil Society in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan,” in
Exploring Civil Society, Political and Cultural Contexts,MarliesGlasius,
David Lewis and
HakanSeckingelgineds, Routledge, 2004;“Tajikistan Local Self-Governance: A Potential Bridge Between Government and Civil Society?” in
Tajikistan at a Crossroad: The Politics of Decentralization, Luigi De Martino ed. CIMERA, Geneva, 2004; and “Bridging the Divide Between Neo-Liberal and Communal
Civil Society in Tajikistan,” in
Civil Society and Politics in Central Asia, Charles Ziegler ed., University Press of Kentucky (Jan 2015 release).
Conference presentations:
Presented at conferences and hearings including those organized by the: European Commission, the EU Parliament, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly,the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, US Congressional sub committees, Wilton Park, the Ditchley Foundation, the Research Foundation of Turkey (TEPAV) and London School of Economics on developments in the Caucasus, Balkans, Turkey.
Evaluations and consultancies
Consultant. Evaluation of South Caucasus peace building and women empowerment program in Armenia and Azerbaijan, Kvinna til Kvinna. Mid-October – December, 2013.
Lead consultant. Tacis Institution Building Partnership Program (IBPP), Evaluation of the Khatlon Social Mobilization Project (Tajikistan) implemented by Ghamkhori and Christian Aid. March 2006.
Lead consultant. UK government, Global Conflict Prevention Pool (GCPP), Strategic Conflict Assessment Tajikistan (SCA). Phase 1 (October and November, 2002) and Phase 2 (June, 2004).
Expert. European Commission, EuropeAid/A3, Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia – Assessment for the Support to Civil Society and Local Initiatives Project Proposals. 10-18 June 2003.
Team member. United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Central Asia needs assessment, to prepare for the future development of an OHCHR presence in the region. Kazakhstan (December 2001), Uzbekistan and Tajikistan (March –April 2002).
Expert. European Human Rights Foundation (EHRF) Assessment for the European Commission’s European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR). Call for Proposals 2001. Assessed Balkan and Central Asian proposals. Spring, 2001.
Consultant. LSE Center for the Study of Global Governance. Co-drafted an article and conducted research on civil society,
local governance, and human rights protection in Bosnia and Herzegovina, for a DFID sponsored project on Strengthening Governance in War Torn Societies. Spring - Fall 2001.
Fellowships, teaching, board positions, miscellaneous:
Senior Fellow, DinuPatriciu Eurasia Center and the Program on Transatlantic Relations, Atlantic Council (June 2013 - present)
Board member, Eurasia Partnership Foundation (2007 – present)
Taught “International War and Peace,” MA Course at the Center for Social Sciences, Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University (Springterm 2006). “New and Old Conflicts in the European Eastern Neighbourhood,” 6-9 hour lecture at CIFE (Centre International de Formation Europeene) in Fall 2012, 2013, 2014. “Conflicts in Turkey Neighborhood” series of lectures (16 hours) Yashar University (Izmir, Turkey) in Fall 2013.
Fluent in English and French. Working proficiency in Russian. Mid-level Turkish and Serbo-Croatian