Team
Executive Director
Michael Meyer-Resende
German, fully qualified lawyer, fifteen years work experience, specialist in legal and political aspects of democratisation. Works in the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe and Asia. Professional experience includes two years legal practice in Berlin, four years with the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the OSCE (Warsaw); adviser on ODIHR Election Observation Missions; almost three years with the election team of the European Commission (leading exploratory missions to Mozambique, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, West Bank/Gaza, Lebanon, Egypt); journalistic experience (BBC, Print Media). Co-authored numerous DRI reports and media pieces. Based in Lisbon and Berlin.
Co-Directors
Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf
German, PhD in public international law, twelve years of professional experience including: four years co-founder and managing director of Democracy Reporting International; six years project leader and Coordinator of International Governance with the Ecologic Institute (a think tank in international environmental policies, based in Berlin, Germany); two years desk officer with the German Federal Government (EU Co-ordination); two years with the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the EU as Legal and Election Expert of various Election Observation Missions; two years legal practice in Berlin and Frankfurt.
Paul O'Grady
British, holds degrees in Social Anthropology and Development Studies. Specialist in elections, democratisation and human rights. Since 1994, he has participated in various assignments for the United Nations, the OSCE and the European Commission, during which he worked in twenty three countries and territories in Africa, Asia and Europe. He served as Deputy Head on numerous high-profile international election observation missions (EOMs) for the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) including Armenia (2008), Kazakhstan (2007), Belarus (2006), Albania (2005), Ukraine (2004) and Georgia (2003). Paul was appointed Head of Mission for the OSCE/ODIHR EOM to Montenegro in 2003. He is co-author of the Democracy Reporting reports on Egypt, Kuwait and Yemen and has contributed to a number of publications on election observation for the OSCE and the European Union. Currently lives in Lebanon and Europe.
Richard Chambers
British. Over thirteen years of experience in law, democratisation and elections. He was Team Leader of the EU Democracy and Election Support Mission to the Afghanistan Presidential Elections 2004 and has also observed numerous elections for the EU and OSCE/ODIHR, including recently as Deputy Chief Observer for the 2006 parliamentary elections in Palestine and presidential elections in Yemen. With wide experience of conflict resolution in the Balkans and Caucasus, Richard has also acted as an independent technical adviser to the National Election Board of Ethiopia. He previously worked as a barrister.
Michaela Küfner
German, holds masters degrees in International Human Rights Law (M.St. Oxford) and European Studies (M.A.). Eight years experience as election observer and core team member in various missions of the OSCE and the EU including the United States, Indonesia, Kenya and Georgia. Television journalist presenting daily news and the current affairs programme “Global 3000“ on DWTV, Germany’s foreign broadcaster.
Geoffrey Weichselbaum
Belgian, with some ten years work experience in the fields of conflict resolution, political analysis and democratisation, in the Middle East, Maghreb, Africa and Asia. Geoffrey’s professional experience includes four years as Programme Manager in Brussels and later Director of Media Programme in Jerusalem for the conflict resolution NGO ‘Search for Common Ground’. Geoffrey was editor of the ‘Common Ground News Service – Middle East’ and the ‘Bulletin of Regional Cooperation in the Middle East’. In 2007/2008, he became Political Affairs Officer in the joint United Nations/African Union mediation team in charge of the peace process in Darfur. Geoffrey has observed numerous elections for the European Union, the National Democratic Institute and The Carter Center and co-authored Democracy Reporting International reports on Morocco, Sudan and Pakistan. He is based in Tunis, Tunisia.
Associates
Hannah Roberts
British, more than ten years experience in electoral observation and support. Has recently been Deputy Head of Mission for the the OSCE in Afghanistan 2009 and the EU in Pakistan 2008. She has designed technical assistance programmes for the UN and EU for electoral and parliamentary support. Hannah has conducted strategic planning, implemented donor projects in the field and been Director of the EU NEEDS II programme to improve standards in electoral observation. She has also written and produced observation materials for the EU, including on the use of international standards for elections. Hannah was the Deputy Head of Country for the 2005 Iraqi Out-of-Country Voting in Syria. She has conducted training and produced election related materials including polling manuals and voter education materials.
Ammar Abboud
Lebanese, M.A. (Political Science), specialist in elections, human rights and development. Twenty years of experience and activism in various Lebanese NGOs. For the past ten years internationally active, mainly in the Arab region on global trade, capacity building with Iraqi NGOs and election monitoring. A founding member and former Deputy Secretary General of the Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections (LADE). Co-authored DRI reports on Lebanon and Yemen and has contributed to a number of publications on electoral reform. He is based in Beirut, Lebanon.
Katherine Vittum
US citizen. Holds a Masters degree in International Politics and has worked in the field of international elections for more than a decade. Her professional experience includes four years of work on electoral reform in Pakistan with DRI and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), and several years advising and managing electoral assistance programs in Afghanistan, Liberia, Ukraine, Kosovo, Macedonia, Albania, Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. She has co-authored reports and articles on elections and democracy.
Berlin Head Office
Agnes Bodens
Programme Manager
German, holds a Masters degree in Political Science, North American Studies and International Law. Before joining Democracy Reporting International she was Research Assistant and Co-ordinator for the M.A. programme „International Relations Online“ and the „Global Politics Summer School Syria“ at the Free University of Berlin. She has previously worked for different governmental and civil society organizations including the Bundestag (Germany’s Parliament), the Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation, and the Atlantic Council of the United States in Washington DC.
Inga Kleinecke
Project Officer
German, holds a diploma in Industrial Engineering and a masters degree in Latin American Studies from the Free University of Berlin. Inga has broad experience in NGO project management including responsibility for donor liaison and communications, with a strong focus on financial management and accounting. Previously she worked on development cooperation and humanitarian aid projects for NGOs in Asia and Latin America.
Eva Gil
Project Officer
Spanish, holds degrees in International Trade and Political Science from the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona and the Free University of Berlin. Eva has extensive skills in project management and donor liaison, with hands-on experience in the international development sector. Prior to this, she worked with international consultancy companies, NGOs and academic research projects, acquiring both management skills and in-depth knowledge of democratic governance and security sector governance issues.
Evelyn Maib
Project Officer
German, holds degrees in European Studies, International Relations, International Law and Human Rights from the University of Maastricht, the Central European University and the University of Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas. Evelyn has in-depth knowledge of human rights, development cooperation, and EU institutions and affairs. In the past, she has worked with international and European organisations, such as UNESCO, the Council of Europe and the European Union Fundamental Rights Agency, as well as with NGOs in Europe and Africa.
Laura Stanga
Office Manager
German of Romanian origin, holds a Diploma in Business Administration and a Masters degree in East European Studies from the Free University of Berlin. Laura has extensive international experience in management and administration with a strong focus on finance and controlling. Before joining Democracy Reporting International she worked for the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. Previously she worked with different private enterprises and NGOs in Europe and Africa, gaining a deep insight into international co-operation.