Stephanie Blanton
Regional Program Director, Africa

Stephanie Blanton joined the International Republican Institute (IRI) in June 2003. She currently serves as Regional Program Director for Africa, overseeing programs in Angola, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Somaliland, South Africa, Sudan, Uganda, Zimbabwe and the Muslim Women's Advocacy Program.

Prior to her appointment as Regional Program Director in May 2006, Blanton served as Deputy Regional Program Director for Africa, a position she was appointed to in January 2006. Blanton returned to Washington, D.C., after working overseas for IRI in Sudan, Malawi and Nigeria.

In 2005, Blanton served as Resident Country Director for IRI's Sudan program and was responsible for opening a field office in southern Sudan where she managed a political party strengthening, legislative development and coalition building program. While in Sudan, Blanton coordinated an orientation training program for the southern representatives to the new National Assembly of Sudan established as part of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.

Blanton moved to Sudan after spending more than a year in Lilongwe, Malawi, where she opened IRI's field office and oversaw a pre-election political party strengthening program prior to the May 2004 presidential and parliamentary elections. She also developed a post-election program to assist the newly created political parties as they began to strengthen and reach out to voters.

She joined IRI as Resident Program Officer in Nigeria and was part of IRI's election observation mission for Nigeria's 2003 elections. While in Nigeria, Blanton assisted in developing IRI's State Party Academies, which now hold quarterly trainings for political parties. In addition to the 2003 Nigerian elections, Blanton has also monitored parliamentary elections in Somaliland.

Before joining IRI, Blanton served as Deputy Policy Director for the U.S. House of Representative Rules Committee, working on trade and foreign relations policy issues. She also served as a Professional Staff Member for the House Rules Committee and as a Legislative Aide to Representatives David Dreier (R-CA) and Tom Ewing (R-IL).

A graduate of Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois, Blanton has a bachelor's degree in political science.