Colleen House
Director, International Political Liaison

Colleen House is the International Republican Institute's (IRI) Director of International Political Liaison. She is responsible for the identification of domestic and foreign trainers for IRI missions and election observations. In addition, she oversees the administration of the Consortium for Elections and Political Processes Strengthening (CEPPS).

House gained national attention with her Republican victory in an overwhelmingly Democratic district in a special election for the Michigan House of Representatives. As the youngest woman elected to the legislature in the history of the state, and during her four terms in the Michigan House, she received recognition from national and state organizations for her dedication to public service.

In 1986, House again made history by becoming the first Republican woman to qualify for the Michigan gubernatorial ballot. Her hard-fought campaign, though not victorious, so impressed the Republican nominee for governor, he selected her as his running mate. House's historic nomination as the first Michigan Republican woman candidate for lieutenant governor was by on a unanimous ballot of 2,000 Republican state convention delegates.

Her involvement in national politics began in 1980 when she directed the winning Michigan campaign for presidential candidate George H.W. Bush in which he received two-thirds of the state's national convention delegates. In 1988, she was asked by Senate Republican Leader Bob Dole to chair his presidential effort in Michigan. For the 1988 fall campaign, House played a key role for unification of Michigan Republicans as a state co-chairman of the Bush/Quayle general election victory.

In addition to her experience in state government, House has been appointed to positions within the federal government. In 1989 she was asked by the White House to serve as Director of Intergovernmental Affairs at the U.S. Department of Commerce and she also was appointed a division chief of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

House is a native of Bay City, Michigan and a graduate of Michigan State University with a bachelor's degree in political science.