IRI Leadership
Officers
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Lorne Craner returned to IRI as President in 2004 and has since led the strengthening of IRI’s democracy assistance programs in countries such as Burma, China, Colombia, Kenya and Tunisia....
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Judy Van Rest was appointed Executive Vice President for IRI on August 2, 2004. She also serves on the Board of the United States Institute of Peace and The Women’s Campaign School at...
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Tom Garrett joined IRI in November 1994. He currently serves as Vice President for Programs. Prior to being named Vice President, Garrett served as IRI’s Regional Director for the...
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Dan Fisk joined IRI in September 2009 to coordinate the Institute's governance programs. In May 2010 he was named Vice President for Policy and Strategic Planning. Prior to...
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Sonya Vekstein returned to IRI in February of 2005 and currently serves as Chief Operations Officer. Prior to being named Chief Operations Officer, Vekstein served as IRI’s Chief...
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Sabina Agarunova returned to IRI in October 2005 and is currently the Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Prior to being named CFO, Agarunova served as IRI’s Controller for five years....
Senior Staff
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Paul Fagan began his career at IRI in 1995. He currently serves as the Regional Director for Africa where he oversees the Institute’s programs in Kenya, Nigeria, Somaliland, South Sudan...
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Julija Belej Bakovic currently serves as the Regional Director for Asia where she oversees the Institute’s programs for China, Indonesia, Cambodia, Mongolia, Burma, North Korea, Malaysia and...
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Stephen Nix joined IRI in October 2000, as Regional Director for Eurasia. In that position, he oversees programs in Belarus, Georgia, Kyrgyz Republic, Moldavia, Russia and Ukraine....
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Jan Surotchak first joined IRI in 1994 and currently serves as Regional Program Director for Europe. In this position he oversees IRI programming in the Baltic States, Central and Southeastern...
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Alex Sutton began his career at IRI in 1992. He currently serves as Regional Director, Latin America and the Caribbean where he oversees the Institute’s programs work with Bolivia,...
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Scott Mastic joined IRI in September 1998 and has helped grow IRI’s Middle East and North Africa (MENA) division to become the Institute’s largest regional division with programs in 12...
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Michelle Bekkering currently serves as the Director for the Women’s Democracy Network (WDN) where she oversees IRI initiative to empower women for greater participation in their country’s...
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Monica Vegas Kladakis joined IRI in 1998 as Russia program officer. She currently serves as Senior Advisor for Governance, coordinating democratic governance programs within the Institute in...
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Elizabeth Ruedy was appointed director of IRI's Office of Monitoring and Evaluation in September 2011. She joined the office as senior advisor for evaluation shortly after its founding in...
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Colleen House is IRI's Director of International Political Liaison. She is responsible for the domestic and international outreach of volunteer trainers and consultants who assist with the...
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Sondra Govatski currently serves as Director of the Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening, a joint venture of the three premier organizations in the field of elections and...
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Claire Rhye joined IRI in August 2005. She is currently responsible for administering the Institute’s grants with the U.S. State Department, the National Endowment for Democracy and IRI...
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Lisa Gates joined IRI in December 2004. In her role, she oversees IRI’s communications and media strategies, including the Institute’s website, print publications and multimedia...
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Shawn Beighle joined IRI in November of 1999, and currently serves as the Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the Institute. Prior to being named CIO, Beighle served as the sole dedicated...
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Dave Puening joined IRI in January 2006. He has more than 30 years of experience in all phases of human resources management and administration. Prior to coming to IRI, Puening worked for...
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