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Current Democracy Fellows

Democracy Fellowships provide professional development through practical experience working with democracy and governance programs. Fellows work in such activities as:

• Providing policy analysis and expert advice
• Developing democracy strategies, evaluation methodologies and indicators
• Providing technical comment on USAID plans or activities
• Helping USAID contractors to provide electoral planning assistance, work with civil society organizations, or strengthen legislatures, local governments and the rule of law
  

Mark Billera
USAID/DCHA/DG – Strategies Team
Washington, DC
Mark’s fellowship contributes to the Strategic and Operational Research Agenda (SORA) that aims to improve quality and strategic approaches by analyzing the effectiveness and impact of USAID democracy and governance programs. He is also serving as a lead for the democracy and governance office on assessing the relationship between governance and food security, focusing particularly on Niger.

Mark holds an MA and is completing his PhD in Political Science from UCLA.

John Buchanan
USAID/DCHA/DG – Rule of Law Team
Washington, DC
John’s fellowship with the rule of law team contributes to USAID’s democracy reform agenda by providing insight about police development, administration, personnel, and operations, with the goal of improving capacity and enhancing the effectiveness and accountability of police authority, and fostering police roles that support democratic governance.
 
John has over 30 years of experience in urban law enforcement and international police development.  He holds an MS in Criminal Justice from Arizona State University.

Donald Chisholm
USAID/DCHA/DG – Rule of Law Team/Administrative Office of U.S. Courts
Washington, DC
As a democracy fellow with the Administrative Office (AO) of the U.S. Courts, Don serves as a liaison between the AO and USAID’s rule of law team in an effort to facilitate use by the USAID missions of the considerable depth of experience in the federal judiciary. 

Previously, Don served as senior management on USAID-funded rule of law projects in Kosovo, Peru, and El Salvador, as a Peace Corps volunteer in Honduras, and as a judge advocate in the U.S. Army.  He received his J.D. from Notre Dame Law School in 1993.

Gloria Jean Garland
USAID/DCHA/DG – Rule of Law Team
Washington, DC
As a Democracy Fellow in the rule of law division at USAID’s Office of Democracy and Governance, Jean is a senior technical expert on rule of law and human rights issues, provides field support and technical assistance to USAID missions in design and implementation of justice sector reform programs, and conducts justice sector/democracy evaluations in Latin America and the Caribbean.  She also designs and implements training programs on rule of law topics, including human rights, for USAID foreign service officers, field missions, and other USG staff. 

Jean previously served as the Legal Director for the European Roma Rights Center in Budapest, as the Director for the Central and Eastern European office of the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law in Budapest, as an adjunct professor in the Human Rights Division at Central European University, and as a Rule of Law Advisor to the USAID Mission in Slovakia.  She has been a frequent trainer on human rights issues for the Council of Europe and the OSCE.  Before beginning her work in international development, she was a trial attorney for ten years in California.  She holds a B.A. in French, a B.S. in Journalism, and a J.D. from the University of Colorado at Boulder, as well as an LL.M. in International and Comparative Law from the Free University of Brussels.  She speaks French, Spanish, basic Slovak, and "survival" Hungarian.

Maureen Taft-Morales
USAID/DCHA/DG and USAID/Guatemala
Guatemala City, Guatemala
Maureen’s fellowship will be split between USAID/Guatemala and the Strategies Division at USAID/Washington.  This fellowship will focus on organizing and conducting election-related activities in Guatemala, including activities in support of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, the Mirador Electoral election observation activity, and local government election sub-activity.  Upon her return to Washington, DC, Maureen will serve as a liaison to the Latin America and Caribbean bureau, particularly in the area of democracy surveys, and will help develop recommendations for further assistance to the region.

Maureen is an experienced member of USAID-sponsored international elections observation missions in the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Haiti, and Nicaragua.  Following her Democracy Fellowship, she will return to her position as a Specialist in Latin American Affairs with the Congressional Research Service at the Library of Congress, providing expert advice, analysis, and other assistance to Members and committees of Congress throughout the legislative process.  Maureen holds an MA in Latin American Studies from Georgetown University.

Karina Uzzo
World Learning Democracy Fellow
Luanda, Angola
Karina’s Democracy Fellowship in Angola is working with World Learning’s USAID-funded Civil Society Strengthening Project (CSSP) as an Advocacy Trainer.  The CSSP emphasizes building strong skills and resource platforms within Angolan civil society organizations with the goal of expanding and accelerating the growth in capacity of the Angola NGO sector by strengthening its ability to identify constituency needs. 

Karina currently works with two coalitions, an HIV/AIDS coalition and an education coalition.  Karina is providing training to local Civil Society Organizations, including assistance and training in the participatory processes to involve communities in planning and design of service delivery, and advocacy skills to enable CSOs to organize, advocate, and engage government at the national and local levels. Karina holds a Master’s degree in Biodiversity from the Universidad of CEU-Spain.

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