Democracy promotion
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2023 SU-DD Fellows CDDRL's 2023 Strengthening Ukrainian Democracy and Development Fellows: (L to R) Halyna Yanchenko, Konstantyn Chyzhyk, Olena Kutsai, Anton Turupalov, Gulsanna Mamediieva, and Mykhailo Pavliuk. Rod Searcey

Please join us on Monday, August 28, to meet CDDRL's six Strengthening Ukrainian Democracy and Development (SU-DD) Fellows. SU-DD is a 10-week training program for Ukrainian practitioners and policymakers. Launched in the fall of 2022, the program provides a unique opportunity for mid-career practitioners working on well-defined projects aimed at strengthening Ukrainian democracy, enhancing human development, and promoting good governance.

Meet our Ukrainian fellows and learn first-hand about what they have been working on during their time at Stanford. Hear about their respective projects, each focusing on actionable ways to support Ukraine’s recovery from Russia’s invasion, and find out more about how these practitioners and policymakers plan to launch their rebuilding efforts when they return to Ukraine in September.

This event is taking place in-person only. There will not be an online component.

AGENDA


12:30-12:35 — Introduction (Kathryn Stoner, Mosbacher Director of CDDRL)
12:35-12:55 — Olena Kutsai
1:00-1:20 — Mykhailo Pavliuk
1:25-1:45 — Gulsanna Mamediieva
1:45-2:00 — Break
2:00-2:20 — Konstantyn Chyzhyk
2:25-2:45 — Halyna Yanchenko
2:50-3:10 — Anton Turupalov


Reuben W. Hills Conference Room (Encina Hall East, 2nd floor)
616 Jane Stanford Way, Stanford, CA 94305

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Last year, the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law announced the launch of a new 10-week training program for Ukrainian practitioners and policymakers. The Strengthening Ukrainian Democracy and Development (SU-DD) Program provides a unique opportunity for mid-career practitioners working on well-defined projects aimed at strengthening Ukrainian democracy, enhancing human development, and promoting good governance. It builds on some of the successes of the Center’s earlier Ukrainian Emerging Leaders Program, which hosted 12 Ukrainian fellows across four cohorts.

In May and June, our SU-DD inaugural cohort of six fellows met online with CDDRL faculty to discuss and define the scope of their respective projects, each focusing on actionable ways to support Ukraine’s recovery from Russia’s invasion.

One of the key components of the SU-DD program is for fellows to also participate in our three-week-long Fisher Family Summer Fellows Program. We were delighted to welcome them to campus in July for this opportunity to create connections and synergies and gain a deeper understanding of shared development problems and solutions from a variety of country contexts far beyond Ukrainian borders. Participating in this program also expanded the network for our Ukrainian fellows to draw upon as they continue their work and implement their projects when they leave Stanford on September 1.

During the final three weeks of the SU-DD program, our Ukrainian fellows are visiting Silicon Valley tech companies, meeting with local business experts, politicians, government officials, and Stanford faculty, and working on implementation plans for their projects.

Learn more about each of our fellows and their projects below, and join us on Monday, August 28, at 12:30 pm, to hear them present their ideas.

Meet the Fellows

Anton Turupalov

Anton Turupalov is a political consulting and government relations professional in Ukraine with extensive experience in public service. He has previously served as Deputy Mayor of Mykolayiv, Advisor to the Minister of Healthcare of Ukraine, and Advisor to the Head of the Parliament of Ukraine. Anton's expertise lies in regional policy and local administration. As a key advisor on regional policy to the former Prime Minister of Ukraine, he played a pivotal role in implementing groundbreaking system changes, including land and administrative reform. Anton organized Ukraine's first coronavirus isolation facility during the COVID-19 pandemic under challenging circumstances. Following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia in February 2022, Anton co-organized the Assistance Coordination Center in Warsaw, a hub for coordinating humanitarian aid between Ukrainian and Polish authorities, international donors, and organizations. Currently based in Warsaw, Anton serves as an advisor to the Minister of Agriculture and Food of Ukraine.

Project Description: Anton is spearheading the creation of the Ukrainian Endowment for Democracy (UED), a platform dedicated to protecting and developing democracy in Ukraine. The UED aims to promote the transformation of the political system, establish effective institutions, and introduce equal rules of the game to build sustainable democracy. The Endowment’s mission is to promote democratic institutions, foster economic development, and support the political system’s evolution. UED will bring together responsible businesses and experienced reformers to address systemic national problems, shape the national agenda, partner with international organizations, and work on two fronts: promoting democracy and building a strong economy. It will support the development of democratic institutions, political parties, civil society organizations, and independent media, and promote Ukraine as a regional leader of democracy, as well as support Ukraine’s integration with Europe and the West.

In addition to establishing the UED, Anton is working on a secondary project focused on improving the efficiency, transparency, and responsiveness of reconstruction and humanitarian aid efforts in Ukraine. The project aims to develop a one-stop-shop system connecting international donors, relevant national government ministries, agencies, and local actors (region, town, and community-level stakeholders). This platform will enable a more transparent, efficient, and responsive mechanism for coordinating aid efforts in Ukraine, reducing corruption, improving prioritization, lowering net costs, and facilitating communication of needs and systemic issues by local administrations.


 

Gulsanna Mamediieva

Gulsanna ("Sanna") Mamediieva led strategic planning and European integration of the digital sector of Ukraine as Director General for EU Integration at the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine. She played a significant role in Ukraine’s integration into the EU Digital Single Market and the rapid digital transformation of Ukraine, including building the government ecosystem “Diia” (The State and Me), which makes it easy and secure for Ukrainians to obtain digital documents (driver’s licenses, passports, etc.), access public services online (such as paying taxes, business registration), developing digital skills, electronic communication and growth of ICT industry. This influence made Ukraine one of the world leaders in public innovation and, without exaggeration, European “digital tiger.” It also served as a backbone of Ukrainian resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic and wartime. Since February 2022, she has coordinated international technical assistance to support Ukraine’s digital resilience. Gulsanna also initiated exporting Ukrainian digital transformation experience to other countries. The first case is with Estonia, which will present its government state application, “Mrik,” which is based on Ukraine’s “Diia” app. Gulsanna currently serves as an Advisor to the Vice Prime Minister on Innovation, Technology and Education, and to the Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine. She is also Director for Programs and Partnerships at Digitally GovTech Center of Excellence, a member of the Council of Europe’s Committee on Artificial Intelligence, and Coordinator for Ukraine at Eastern Partnership Harmonization Digital Market initiative. She was a Visiting Fellow at the McCourt School for Public Policy at Georgetown University before arriving at Stanford this summer. She holds a Master’s degree in Information Technology Law from the University of Tartu, Estonia, and is pursuing a Ph.D. in Internet Law at Carleton University in Canada. Before her government role, Gulsanna worked as an IT lawyer at DLA Piper Ukraine, specializing in ICT and Intellectual Property.

Project Description: Sanna has a number of tech policy areas of interest. She would like to learn more about innovation strategy development, edTech, govTech, military tech, AI for public purpose, saving ecosystems, biotech and medtech, and innovation parks. She is also interested in developing solutions and learning about comparative practices for upskilling and reskilling displaced people, mostly women, with a specific focus on the ICT sector. She has been very involved in building Ukraine’s digital capacity and IT sector development. Sanna is also interested in helping to build further digital capacities for better governance at both the local and national levels. To achieve this, she is keen on connecting with individuals in California, including local government representatives, who are engaged in similar efforts. She is also eager to connect with women in the Bay Area who have participated in ICT-related retraining and reskilling initiatives.

Gulsanna is interested in technology around elections, blockchain, and security that would be involved in structuring a way in which all displaced Ukrainians might have the opportunity to vote in the next round of presidential and/or parliamentary and local elections. She endeavors to understand the risks and benefits of such a system and, thus, is interested in connecting with experts in technical/computer science who are conversant in blockchain and e-voting, if only to explain why these ideas may not work that well. She is also interested in digital diplomacy, promoting and sharing Ukrainian digital transformation experiences.


 

Halyna Yanchenko

Halyna Yanchenko was elected to the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) in 2019 and is the Deputy Chair of Sluha Narodum “SN” (Servant of the People), a centrist, pro-European and anti-corruption Party. Shortly after her election, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, tapped her to lead government investment efforts. In January 2022, she was appointed as a Secretary in the National Investment Council of Ukraine. In addition, she chairs the Temporary Special Commission of the Verkhovna Rada on protecting investor rights. Prior to being elected to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, she led the Civil Oversight Council at the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine. In 2014-2015 was a deputy of the Kyiv city council. Halyna earned a Master’s Degree in Sociology from the National University Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. She also studied for one year at Wichita Falls High School in Texas. 

Project Description: Halyna has many interests and was an important voice in the political process that led to the creation of “Diya” (a state cell phone application that has electronic IDs and provides public services to citizens and businesses) to make it easy and secure for Ukrainians to obtain digital drivers’ licenses, passports, health cards, and the like. This was very successful, and Ukrainians can now do all of this on their smartphones. Building on this success, Halyna is interested in using technology to assist in quickly employing veterans and returning displaced Ukrainians post-war. She is interested in engaging foreign investment for the recovery of Ukraine. She also wants to learn more about platforms and systems that can match skills with reconstruction priorities (as well as helping to map out those priorities). She would benefit from making connections in the private sector, including tech companies that could be helpful in these areas, as well as learning more from people who have worked in post-conflict zones on reconstruction priorities and organization. She also seeks to meet with emergency and disaster preparedness and recovery organizations at the state, federal and local levels or other contacts who may have experience in some of these areas.


 

Konstantyn Chyzhyk

Konstantyn ("Kostya") Chyzhyk is a Partner at British-Ukrainian law and consultancy firm Hillmont Partners, helping international companies develop business in Ukraine and advising the government and the parliament on economic and judicial reforms. As Deputy Minister of Energy and Ecology, Konstantyn coordinated European integration, investments, digital transformation, and security, worked on renewable energy sector stabilization and reform, launched new auctions on gas extraction, and managed the largest sectoral loan and grant portfolio in the government of $1.2B. As Deputy Head and later as Head of the Investment Promotion Office under the President of Ukraine, Konstantyn unlocked and secured more than $1B of foreign direct investments. As Head of Communications and International Relations of the Ministry of Finance, he promoted IMF-backed reforms and managed cooperation with investors and the IMF, World Bank, EBRD, and EIB. 

Project Description: Kostya wants to use his time at Stanford to develop a new vision for ways in which to attract foreign direct investment to Ukraine. He is interested in learning more about strategic, sectoral, and institutional policy and regulatory frameworks that Ukraine would need to have in place in order to attract foreign capital post-war. He is keen on engaging with professionals from private equity and venture funds. Additionally, he seeks to connect with regional authorities, both at the state and local levels, if applicable, who are actively involved in economic development and the promotion of foreign direct investment (FDI). Kostya's intention is to gain insights from California's initiatives in this realm and also understand more about the factors that investors prioritize when considering investment in post-conflict areas.


 

Mykhailo Pavliuk

Mykhailo Pavliuk is vice-chairman of the Chernivtsi Oblast (state) legislature in Ukraine. Among his central duties is the protection of the mutual interests of communities (known in Ukrainian as hromadas) and local governing bodies. His interests have long been focused on Euro-Atlantic integration, decentralization and deconcentration of authority in Ukraine, and the engagement of public and non-governmental organizations in policymaking. As acting Governor of the Chernivtsi Oblast State Administration in 2018-2019, Mykhailo focused on the creation of a successful administrative structure of new, capable, self-sufficient communities. In 2006-2010 shortly after his university graduation, he also organized long-term public discussions about the advantages for Ukraine of European Union and NATO membership. In his spare time, Mykhailo volunteers to deliver humanitarian aid to liberated areas of Ukraine and to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He also supports internally displaced persons in Chernivtsi and coordinates their resettlement.

Project Description: Mykhailo’s project is about local self-governance — its decentralization, finalization, and implementation in the post-war period in Ukraine. He wants to learn more about checks and balances between executive and local self-governance in the United States, how to empower self-sufficient communities (hromadas in Ukrainian, which are literally community-based forms of governance) and enrich them with practices of good governance (transparent, responsive and efficient), and also ways in which to engage citizens in local public issues. During his time at Stanford, he is interested in meeting with local government representatives in Palo Alto, Menlo Park, and Mountain View, as well as state (California) government actors to understand better how (or whether) this works here.


 

Olena Kutsai

Olena Kutsai is a lawyer with more than 15 years of experience in the international corporate sector, including work for Chevron and Scorpio Real Estate corporations. Olena currently serves as a Member of the Secretariat of the Business Ombudsman Council of Ukraine and is a Member of the Peace Coalition. In the Business Ombudsman Council, Olena leads high-level dialogues focused on improving the business environment in Ukraine. She is responsible for strategic cooperation with a number of stakeholders, including the Ministry of Digital Transformation and the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources. Olena drives several special initiatives to support the reconstruction and recovery of Ukraine following Russia’s invasion in 2022. She also develops policy recommendations promoting good governance, sustainable development, and the rule of law in Ukraine, working with the Government of Ukraine, Verkhovna Rada (parliament), the Office of the President of Ukraine, business associations, non-governmental institutions, international financial institutions (World Bank, EBRD), and international development organizations such as USAID and Agriteam. Olena is an author and co-author of the Council’s educational webinars and training for the private and public sectors. She holds a Master’s of Public Administration from the Ukrainian Catholic University and a Master’s of Law from the Eastern European University. Olena is a graduate of the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law’s Leadership Academy for Development (Stanford University) and an advanced leadership course at Harvard Business School.

Project Description: Olena has an extensive background in business development and business advocacy. Her primary interest revolves around exploring effective strategies to reconstruct and revitalize the business community in Kherson, a region in southeastern Ukraine liberated from Russian occupation in the spring of 2022. Her overarching goal is to create models that can be scaled, adapted, and implemented in other parts of Ukraine.

Her past work has been focused on helping businesses forced to relocate from occupied or conflict-ridden areas of Ukraine. She helped these businesses secure new operational spaces, access essential services like electricity and internet, and rebuild disrupted supply chains to resume production. In Kherson, specific challenges arise due to the aftermath of flooding caused by the Russian military's destruction of the Khakovka Dam on June 6, 2023. Alongside her focus on business recovery, Olena also seeks to address the cleanup and restoration of vital services like electricity and internet, as well as the rebuilding of other infrastructure destroyed in the flooding.

Given the significant environmental damage in Kherson, Olena has found value in connecting with experts in food sustainability at Stanford, as well as climate and environmental scientists like David Lobell. She also seeks to engage with and learn from individuals with experience in disaster cleanup and recovery, both within California and on a national and international scale.

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Fisher Family Summer Fellows Class of 2023
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Announcing the Inaugural Fisher Family Summer Fellows Cohort

In July 2023, CDDRL will welcome a diverse cohort of 33 experienced practitioners from 21 countries who are working to advance democratic practices and economic and legal reform in contexts where freedom, human development, and good governance are fragile or at risk.
Announcing the Inaugural Fisher Family Summer Fellows Cohort
Michael McFaul moderates a panel with Oleksiy Honcharuk, Serhiy Leshchenko, Oleksandra Matviichuk, Oleksandra Ustinova on the one-year anniversary of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
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Ukraine’s Fight for Democracy, One Year In

To commemorate the first year of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian leaders joined a panel hosted by the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies to express their hopes for victory and their gratitude for Western support.
Ukraine’s Fight for Democracy, One Year In
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Meet the six fellows selected to participate in the first cohort of the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law’s Strengthening Ukrainian Democracy and Development Program.

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Deliberative Democracy Lab Postdoctoral Fellow 2023-25
lodewijk_gelauff_1.jpg

Lodewijk Gelauff is a Postdoctoral Scholar at the Deliberative Democracy Lab in CDDRL. He is an interdisciplinary scholar and received his doctorate in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford in 2023 with his dissertation on "Design and Evaluation of Online Technologies for Societal Decision Making."

In his work, he works with societal decision-makers to use and improve tools to engage residents or stakeholders in their decisions. As part of this, he managed the development and use of a few tools, including a video chat platform to facilitate small-group discussions without a human moderator and a voting platform for participatory budgeting that is used by dozens of cities in the United States.

In his recent work, he focuses on designing experiments and developing data sets that allow more in-depth analysis of how stakeholders use these technologies in practice. Lodewijk is actively involved as a volunteer with the Wikimedia community and was named the Wikimedia Laureate (a career award) in 2021 for his volunteer activities. 

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Catastrophizing the state of the world in which one comes of age is a common fallacy of youth. I intend to avoid this pitfall. Still, contextualizing the present state of affairs is a tremendous feat. My generation is graduating from university amidst the looming sixth mass extinction, as our planet continues to warm, and humanity appears unable to free itself from imperial wars.

Yet as I begin to find my footing in this world, my way of contributing to solving these seemingly insurmountable challenges, I am imbibed with hope rather than fear. This faith emanates from the fabric of the communities in which I have been fortunate to be embedded. For it is in the folds of communityliving, learning, and working with people who care deeply about making the world a better place and about each other as human beingsthat we find the strength to persevere, even when it appears that much of the progress we thought we had made as a species is disintegrating in real-time.

From Costa Rica to Chile, Latin American democracies are in jeopardy.


Three months ago, I submitted my honors thesis to the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (CDDRL) as a student in its Fisher Family Honors Program. Under the advisement of my brilliant mentors, Professors Beatriz Magaloni and Jeremy Weinstein, I spent the last year and a half of my time at Stanford conducting original research on citizenship in Chile, a country currently working to redefine its social contract.

Tara Hein '23 presents her honors thesis Tara Hein '23 presents her honors thesis. Nora Sulots

Though Chile is one of Latin America’s poster childrenlauded for its economic success and the strength of its democratic institutionsin 2019, the world watched with bated breath as protests erupted nationwide. Over a million people took to the streets in the capital alone, fueled by a broad range of demands from improved healthcare and pension systems to greater recognition of Indigenous peoples and women’s rights. Through in-depth, semi-structured interviews, I sought to understand how low-income citizensa group standing to gain significantly from the protestors’ demandssaw the state and understood their role as citizens of a democratic polity. Because democracy derives its legitimacy from the participation of its members,1 how people self-conceptualize their citizenship and choose to exercise their rights and responsibilities matters greatly in determining the vitality and longevity of this political system.

I was born and raised in Costa Rica, one of three liberal democracies in Latin America, and consistently ranked among the best democracies in the Western Hemisphereeven above the United States according to V-Dem’s liberal democracy index and Freedom House’s freedom score. Growing up, however, I was perplexed and disillusioned by the reality I witnessed at home.

In 2018, my country confronted one of the most contentious presidential elections in its recent history: the candidates that faced off in the runoff were both from nascent parties promising to diverge from the status quo, bogged down by corruption scandals and legitimacy crises.2 Across Costa Rica, young people worried about our democracy formed Coalición Costa Rica, a nonpartisan national civil society coalition dedicated to safeguarding our democratic system by working towards a more informed and participatory country. As a founding member of this organization’s local branch in my hometown, Monteverde, I went door-to-door informing voters on the critical issues at stake that election cycle, organized transportation systems to bring citizens to the polls, and spearheaded events to increase my community’s engagement with these elections.

Caminata por los derechos humanos, Monteverde, Costa Rica 2018 Caminata por los derechos humanos (Monteverde, Costa Rica 2018) Tara Hein

That April, as I worked the polls at the Escuela de Santa Elenaa local school serving as a polling station—I found I, too, was losing faith in democracy. Our efforts felt insufficient. I was disheartened by the rationale folks gave for selecting their chosen candidate; I was frustrated by the imperfect nature of our system. How many people had not voted that day? How many had not voted simply because they could not get to the polls? How many did not know who to vote for or how to choose, and how many more thought that regardless of who won, their government would continue to fail them? If I saw so many shortcomings in my home countryallegedly one of the best democracieswhat was it like elsewhere?

Community and collaboration are vital ingredients to solving the pressing issues facing our societies.


This was one experience among many that motivated me to come to Stanford, determined to learn how democracies across Latin America could be strengthened from the ground up, creating systems of governance that fulfill their promise of working in service of all their members.

Through my honors thesis, I sought to explore this question using rigorous empirical research. I saw the case of Chile as one that could shed light on the challenges democracies in my region face. In particular, I observed striking parallels between the growing discontent with and diminishing trust in democracy in Chile and Costa Rica. From developing a research design, writing the interview protocol, and securing IRB approval, to conducting fieldwork in Santiago, creating local partnerships, recruiting participants, and conducting interviews, writing my honors thesis pushed me to use the tools I had acquired throughout my undergraduate career in service of contributing to our understanding of the state of our democracies.

The concluding chapter of my thesis features an epigraph with a statement from former Uruguayan President José “Pepe” Mujica, cautioning that “if we renounce politics and each one takes refuge in the individual,” our civilization will break down.3 These words speak to how democracies suffer when people withdraw from the political communityfrom decision-making processes, public spaces, and their democratic citizenship. Citizen participation is democracy’s oxygen; this form of government hinges on our ability to act collectively and integrate members’ voices into its functioning. The Chilean experience illustrates the perils of a disjointed society divided into isolated units.

A similar sentiment holds for addressing the challenges of our time. Ideas require feedback and discussion to flourish, for it is only once they are subjected to scrutiny through a variety of paradigms that they are able to withstand the chaotic pressures of real-world implementation. This process is not about relentless criticism or antagonism: it is about cooperation and collaboration, operating under the premise that those around you care as deeply as you do about solving the pressing issues facing our societies.
 

My time at CDDRL was transformative, not only in my growth as a young scholar but also in my development as a citizen of the world.

Fisher Family Honors Program Class of 2023 Fisher Family Honors Program Class of 2023 Damian Marhefka

My time at CDDRL was transformative, not only in my growth as a young scholar but also in my development as a citizen of the world. This is precisely because, beyond an intellectual home, I found community here. From daily greetings, smiles, exchanges of heartfelt conversation, and comradery — within the honors cohort, between students, staff, and faculty—emerges a culture of care that nurtures the whole person. Such quotidian interactions brim with positivity, converting weekly research seminars, workshops, or even casual encounters in Encina Hall into powerful energy sources. It is this spirit that informs the relationships that are born here, turning a group of remarkable individual scholars into a community.

On days when it seemed my thesis did not want to get written — when the headlines on the constitutional process in Chile, presidential elections in Brazil, or violence in El Salvador flooded my inbox, dampening my ability to continue reading journal articles and coding interviews — coming to CDDRL became an antidote. I could find solace in conversations with advisors and mentors, work sessions with other students, or moments of shared humanity with the wonderful staff and faculty at the Center.

Confronting the troubles of our time with the intention of finding solutions — facing a myriad of setbacks along the way — requires a kind of dynamic resilience that takes a great deal of courage and resolve. Yet engaging in this endeavor embedded in a collaborative, vibrant, and compassionate community, like the one found at CDDRL, makes even the hardest days a little bit easier. Such communities are the key to having the stamina and faith to continue developing new, innovative, and daring solutions in an environment where they will be pushed to become their best versions.

Becoming intimately familiar with the case of Chile has proven a sobering endeavor on the practicalities of democratic reform. As I finalized my thesis, Chile was embarking on its second attempt at re-writing its constitution after the draft resulting from the first was vehemently rejected by a majority of the population.

Perhaps above all, both my research itself and my time at CDDRL more broadly have impressed upon me the need to care for our political communities as one would a delicate flower in a tropical garden.

Tara Hein poses with Fisher Family Honors Program co-directors Didi Kuo and Stephen Stedman. Tara Hein poses with Fisher Family Honors Program co-directors Didi Kuo and Stephen Stedman (June 2023). Damian Marhefka

1. O’Donnell, Guillermo. “The Quality of Democracy: Why the Rule of Law Matters.” Journal of Democracy 15, no. 4 (2004): 32-46.
2. Colburn, Forrest D., and Arturo Cruz S. “Latin America’s Shifting Politics: The Fading of Costa Rica’s Old Parties.” Journal of Democracy 29, no. 4 (2018): 43-53.
3. Klein, Darío. Vota y Verás: Reflexiones de Pepe Mujica. Syncretic Press, 2018.

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2023 Honors Thesis Award Winners, Tara Hein and Sean Michael
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Graduating CDDRL Honors Students Recognized for Outstanding Theses

Tara Hein ('23) is a recipient of the 2023 Firestone Medal and Sean Michael ('23) has won CDDRL's Outstanding Thesis Award.
Graduating CDDRL Honors Students Recognized for Outstanding Theses
Phi Beta Kappa graduates
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CDDRL Congratulates Newly Elected 2023 Phi Beta Kappa Members

Tara Hein and Sorcha Whitley (honors class of 2023) are among the newest members of this prestigious academic honors society.
CDDRL Congratulates Newly Elected 2023 Phi Beta Kappa Members
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Fisher Family Honors Program graduate Tara Hein (‘23) reflects on her time at Stanford and the community she found within the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law.

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The Fisher Family Summer Fellows on Democracy and Development Program brings together an annual cohort of approximately 30 mid-career practitioners from countries in political transition who are working to advance democratic practices and enact economic and legal reform to promote human development. Launched by CDDRL in 2005, the program was previously known as the Draper Hills Summer Fellows Program. The new name reflects an endowment gift from the Fisher family – Sakurako (Sako), ‘82, and William (Bill), MBA ‘84 – that secures the future of this important and impactful program.

CDDRL looks forward to convening another powerful network of leaders determined to advance change in their communities.


The Fisher Family Summer Fellows Class of 2023 includes a diverse cohort of 33 experienced practitioners from 21 countries who are working to advance democratic practices and economic and legal reform in contexts where freedom, human development, and good governance are fragile or at risk.

Included in this year’s class are six Ukrainian fellows who are jointly participating in CDDRL’s Strengthening Ukrainian Democracy and Development Program (SU-DD). Since early June, these fellows have been meeting regularly online with CDDRL faculty to identify and define the scope of their individual projects, each of which focuses on actionable ways to support Ukraine’s recovery from Russia’s invasion. By including our SU-DD scholars in the Fisher Family Summer Fellows Program, we seek to create connections, synergies, and a deeper understanding of shared development problems and solutions from a variety of country contexts. Participating in this program will also expand the network for our Ukrainian fellows to draw upon as they continue their work and implement their projects when they leave Stanford.

The 33 Fisher Family Summer Fellows will arrive on campus to begin a three-week training program on July 23. Delivered by an interdisciplinary team of Stanford faculty, the program allows emerging and established global leaders to explore new institutional models and frameworks to enhance their ability to promote good governance, accountable politics, and find new ways to achieve economic development in their home countries.

Meet the Fellows

BELARUS
 

Anton Radniankou

Anton Radniankou is a leader with over a decade of experience spanning both the for-profit and nonprofit sectors. His notable achievements include shaping the strategy and communication efforts for the most successful presidential campaign in the history of Belarusian democratic forces. Additionally, he established one of the largest independent think tanks in the country and implemented extensive infrastructure projects funded by the European Union. Anton currently leads the Belarusian think tank, Center for New Ideas, which promotes structural reforms through research and stakeholder engagement. During the 2020 presidential campaign in Belarus, Anton acted as a consultant to reformist candidates Viktar Babaryka, Maria Kalesnikava, and Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. Previously, he designed and implemented initiatives centered around sustainable regional development, with budgets reaching up to 1 million EUR. He also serves as the Head of Communications for the Coordination Council of the Belarusian Democratic Forces. Anton was born in Homiel, Belarus, and studied Strategic Communications at King’s College, London.



CAMEROON
 

Tem Mbuh

Tem Fuh Mbuh is the Acting Division Director and Program Manager of the Security and Rights Program at Open Society—Africa. Prior to this, he was the head of the Nigeria Office of the Open Society Initiative for West Africa as well as the Program Officer for Equality, Justice, and Human Rights. Previously, he served as Legal Officer at the Secretariat of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights. In 2017, Tem was a Mandela Washington Fellow for Young African Leaders (University of Virginia and College of William and Mary, both in the United States. He holds a Master’s degree in Human Rights and Democratization from the University of Pretoria, South Africa. Tem's primary interests are in the areas of conflict prevention, human rights, and rule of law.



COLOMBIA
 

Ana Bejarano

Ana Bejarano Ricaurte is a Colombian lawyer from Los Andes University, with a Masters in Law from Harvard University. Bejarano is a litigator in Bejarano Abogados, a law firm in Bogotá, and is currently the director of El Veinte, an NGO dedicated to the judicial defense of freedom of expression and the eradication of judicial harassment against the press. She is also a professor at Los Andes University, teaching a course titled: Justice and Freedom of Expression. Bejarano is an op-ed writer for Los Danieles, an independent digital opinion outlet in Colombia, and has been a member of the Colombian Institute of Procedural Law since 2011. Her research topics include justice systems, pro bono work, sociology of the legal profession, freedom of expression, and gender-based violence. She is also a proud single mother to Irene.



ETHIOPIA
 

Ayten Birhanie

Dr. Ayten Birhanie is the Executive Director of the Ethiopian Institute of Peace. Previously, he served as a Lecturer at various institutions and co-founded New Abyssinia College, where he served as College Dean and General Manager. His interests and areas of expertise include societies and politics, peacebuilding, conflict management, and transformation of the Horn of Africa, as well as the issues of social justice and equality, and human and democratic rights and responsibilities. Ayten holds a Ph.D. in Global Studies, specializing in peace and security in Africa, from Leipzig University in Germany and Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia. He also earned a Master of Arts degree in Peace Education from the University for Peace (UPEACE) in Costa Rica. He completed his Bachelor's degrees in Sociology and Social Anthropology, as well as in Business Education, from Unity University and Addis Ababa University, respectively.



GEORGIA
 

Ketevan Meskhishvili

Ketevan Meskhishvili is a judge of the Tbilisi Appeal Court with 13 years of experience. She is a doctor of Laws and has been a full professor at the Free University of Tbilisi since 2013. In addition to her judicial role, Ketevan is a national trainer for judges, attorneys, and lawyers. She has published extensively on private law and human rights. Throughout her 20-year legal career, Ketevan has held various positions, including chief specialist at the Civil, Entrepreneurial, and Bankruptcy Cases Chamber of the Supreme Court of Georgia and legal assistant to the Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Court of Georgia. She also wrote the curricula as director of the Ph.D. and LLM programs in Law at Caucasus University. Ketevan's educational background includes studies at Iv. Javakhishvili University of Tbilisi and the European University of Saarbrücken. She has completed certified legal training courses in Georgia and Europe and has participated in exchange programs in Germany and the United States. Driven by her motto, "I evolve, therefore I exist," Ketevan is committed to continuous self-improvement and being a valuable citizen who contributes to her country's progress.
 

tamara khulordava

Tamar Khulordava, co-founder of Egeria Solutions, specializes in democratization and institution building. With over 20 years of experience in governance, human rights, and the rule of law, she offers consultancy at Egeria to state and non-state actors. Tamar's notable roles include serving as a member of the Parliament of Georgia (2016-2020), where she chaired the Committee on European Integration and led parliamentary delegations to the European Parliament. She also served as First Deputy Minister of Corrections, spearheading impactful reforms in criminal enforcement. Tamar has managed European Union justice programs worth over EUR 100 million and has contributed to legal education as a trainer and instructor at Tbilisi State University. She holds a degree from Tbilisi State University and has participated in various professional development programs.



HONG KONG (city)
 

Sunny Cheung

Sunny Cheung is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Flow HK Media, a platform that combats authoritarian propaganda and promotes democracy across more than ten countries. He currently advises the Hong Kong Democracy Council in Washington, D.C., and has previously advised the State Department, the Taiwanese government, and various international NGOs. In 2019, Sunny founded the Hong Kong Higher Institutions International Affairs Delegation, comprising all university student unions in the territory of Hong Kong, and organized worldwide lobbying efforts to support freedom and justice for the city. In 2020, he was elected by 600,000 pro-democracy voters in the municipal primaries. In 2022, he founded the International Liberty Congress in an effort to prevent further democratic recession. Sunny’s work for freedom in Hong Kong has earned him recognition as a Global Leader by the McCain Institute. He has also testified before the US Congress, Parliament of the United Kingdom, and Taiwan Legislative Yuan regarding the political situation in Hong Kong. Sunny is a graduate of the University of Hong Kong and holds an M.A. from the School for Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University. He is a visiting fellow at Taiwan's National Sun Yat-Sen University.



INDIA
 

deeksha bhardwaj

Deeksha Bhardwaj is a political journalist covering policy and governance in New Delhi. Her extensive coverage includes subjects ranging from the Election Commission and Parliament to tech policy, cybersecurity, and culture. Deeksha's portfolio showcases her ability to curate articles, deliver ground reports on national and state elections, and break important news stories on topics such as India’s burgeoning data protection legislation, social media policy, and the country’s principal opposition party, the Congress. She has a keen interest in surveillance reforms and their impact on civil rights. A graduate of Lady Shri Ram College in India, Deeksha pursued an academic career in Literatures in English before her stint as a journalist. She holds a Master of Philosophy from Delhi University and is interested in the intersection of technology, policy, society, and governance.
 

Manasi Subramaniam

Manasi Subramaniam is the Editor-in-Chief and Vice President at Penguin Random House India, where she heads the literary division’s flagship imprints: Allen Lane, Viking, Hamish Hamilton, Penguin Paperbacks, and Penguin Classics. She has published some of the most exciting new voices across South Asia, including two winners of the Booker Prize and a winner of the Pulitzer Prize. She has been invited to prestigious global leadership and governance forums, including the Yale World Fellows program and the Raisina Young Fellows program, as well as professional publishing platforms such as the Frankfurt Buchmesse fellowship, the Bureau International de l'Édition Française fellowship, the Australia Council for the Arts Visiting International Publishers program, and the Zev Birger fellowship. Manasi is committed to making publishing more inclusive and accessible and bringing underrepresented voices into mainstream media. Manasi has an MA in Renaissance Literature and has worked in amateur theater and academic research on Shakespeare.
 

ruben mascarenhas

Technologist and socio-political activist Ruben Mascarenhas is the National Joint Secretary of India's youngest national political party, the Aam Admi Party (AAP). He also serves as the Party’s spokesperson and as Working President of the Mumbai Unit. He is the co-founder and director of Khaana Chahiye Foundation, which works toward solving hunger problems in urban India through policy advocacy and community mobilization. The Foundation was one of India's largest covid hunger relief programs, having served over 7.5 million cooked meals and supporting 6.5 lakh migrant workers during the migrant-worker exodus crisis. In 2009, as part of his JaagoRe! campaign, Ruben registered lakhs of Mumbai voters. In 2011, he was at the forefront of the India Against Corruption movement. In the same year, following the murder of two boys standing up to sexual harassment in Mumbai, Ruben launched the Zero Tolerance Campaign, successfully amending the anti-sexual harassment law in Maharashtra. A digital evangelist, Ruben was awarded the title of Mumbai Heroes for contributing to the highest-ever voter turnout in Mumbai in 2018. He was also a part of the founding team of SERV’D, which was a Bill Gates-funded entity to make domestic workers financially independent and debt free.



KENYA
 

Monica Munyendo

Monica Munyendo is a judicial officer working with the Kenyan Judiciary. At present, she serves as a Principal Magistrate in Central Kenya, where she also heads a court station. She has eleven years of experience on the bench, where she handles both civil and criminal matters. During her tenure at Kilgoris court in Narok county, she trained on the legal framework of Female Genital Mutilation and has subsequently trained women and young girls within her jurisdiction to abandon the deep-rooted, harmful traditional practice. Monica is committed to fostering access to justice through promoting alternative justice systems, for example, in cases where elders facilitate parties to resolve their disputes. Previously, she worked at the Kenyan Judiciary Academy and was a trainer on election dispute resolution in the last election cycle. Monica is a Barer Fellow and holds a Master's degree in Law in Sustainable International Development from the University of Washington.



LEBANON
 

Ghina Bou Chakra

Ghina Bou Chakra is a Lebanese human rights defender and an advocate for civic engagement. She currently serves as Amnesty International’s Regional Media Officer for the Middle East and North Africa, exposing human rights violations within a complex landscape of enduring challenges such as political repression, gender inequality, and the stifling of dissent. In 2022, Ghina played a significant role in the Lebanese parliamentary elections, developing a media, public relations, and advocacy plan for one of the most successful anti-establishment electoral lists. Throughout Lebanon’s transformative uprising of October 17, 2019, Ghina was present on the frontlines, organizing and participating in protests over several months and ensuring the authentic narrative of the uprising reached the masses. Over the past decade, Ghina has spearheaded and participated in initiatives on environmental justice, gender equality, and social entrepreneurship. In 2021, she served as the President of Junior Chamber International (JCI) in Lebanon, empowering youth to effect positive change within their communities.
 

Sally Abi Khalil

Sally Abi Khalil is a humanitarian and development practitioner with twenty years of experience in Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Tunisia, Egypt, and Syria. She is currently the Middle East and North Africa Director of Oxfam International. As the first Lebanese woman to run a major international NGO within the Syria Response in Lebanon, she has led humanitarian response programming, programs supporting youth and women with social innovation and social entrepreneurship initiatives, promoted the right to decent work, worked for the establishment of civil society networks, and promoted feminist approaches towards leadership and collective action. Sally’s career has followed the trajectory of civil unrest in the Arab region, where she played various roles in shaping civil society development and organizational leadership. She began her career at UNDP in Lebanon and later went on to co-direct the Tharwa Project, an independent initiative launched in Syria to foster new avenues for communication and activism in the Arab region. Following the Cedar Revolution of 2005, Sally joined the National Democracy Institute (NDI), where she managed Citizen Lebanon, a nationwide civic education and advocacy program. During the Arab Spring of 2011, she worked on the Maghreb Youth Political Party Leadership Program in Tunisia and then went on to lead NDI’s Syria country program focusing on youth political leadership development and political party development.



LIBYA
 

Yosra Ben Nagi

Yosra Ben Nagi is a Libyan international development expert leading complex projects with a focus on private sector development. In 2018, she led the team responsible for the establishment of the first microfinance institution in Libya. Dedicated to promoting good governance and economic growth, Yosra currently supports the Libyan Ministry of Economy and Trade in introducing economic reforms to improve the business environment and design public policies for economic diversification, regional integration, trade, and investment. Previously, she worked as an independent consultant in Extractive Industries Governance for Chemonics and the Natural Resource Governance Institute’s 2017 Resource Governance Index. She also served as an investment analyst at the Central Bank of Libya and Libya Africa Investment Portfolio. As a Chevening scholar, Yosra pursued her master’s degree in the United Kingdom and obtained an MSC. in International Business. She also holds a BSc. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Tripoli. 



MALI
 

El Hadj Djitteye

El Hadj Djitteye has 12 years of experience in international development and peacebuilding. He has worked with the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office, Caravan to Class, the United States Department of State, Creative Associates International, the Center for Civilians in Conflict, Global Integrity, the Global Initiative Against Organized Crime, and the United Nations Mission in Mali. He is the Founder and Executive Director of the Timbuktu Center for Strategic Studies on the Sahel and is also an Obama Leader, One Young World Peace Ambassador, and Mandela Washington Fellow. As a survivor of the war in Mali and other conflicts across Sub-Saharan Africa, El Hadj is motivated to settle regional cultural and land conflicts and prevent extremist radicalization among youth. He holds Master’s degrees in English language and literature and international relations and diplomacy, and his writing and research explore good governance, political transition, democracy, peace and security, youth civic engagement, violent extremism, irregular migration, and cultural heritage development.



MONGOLIA
 

Ankhbayar Begz

Dr. Ankhbayar Begz, also known as Paul R. Anka, is a gender studies expert and Coordinator of the Gender Equality Research Program at the Mitchell Foundation for Arts and Sciences. He holds a Master's degree in education and a Ph.D. in Gender Studies. During his studies, he developed a new index to evaluate gender equality at institutions of higher education. Paul is also an accomplished photographer. He co-founded and served as President of the "Tusgal" photography club for 10 years, which grew to be the largest club in Mongolia. His exhibit, "Portraits of Renown Literary Figures of Mongolia," showcased his passion for portrait photography. Paul was most recently a visiting scholar at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC) at Stanford University’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI) during the 2022-2023 academic year.



NIGERIA
 

Ann Iyonu

Ann Iyonu is the Executive Director of the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation, founded by the former Nigerian president Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. At the heart of the Foundation’s mandate is the protection of democratic integrity, prevention of violent conflicts, and promotion of peaceful resolution of disputes across Africa. Ann is also the coordinator of the West African Elders Forum (WAEF). The Forum draws on the experience and standing of its members to provide advisory, mediation, and conflict resolution support services to political leaders to sustain and advance democracy not only in West Africa but the entire continent of Africa. Since its inception in March 2020, WAEF has successfully played an active role in mediating peaceful elections in The Gambia. It has also intervened — with quiet diplomacy — in addressing nascent political challenges in several countries by reaching out to and engaging with key political leaders at the highest level. For more than a decade, Ann has worked on various democracy promotion, peace and security, and governance initiatives in the West African sub-region. This includes positions with the Institute for War and Peace Reporting and The Right to Know Nigeria, where she worked to empower citizens and exact accountability through the promotion of the freedom of information. Ann has also been a consultant to several international and national organizations, including the Open Government Partnership, as IRM Researcher, Nigeria.
 

Chika Charles Aniekwe

Dr. Chika Charles Aniekwe has over 19 years of experience in democratic governance, transition, conflict, peacebuilding, and stabilization. He has worked across multiple contexts — from conflict and post-conflict countries such as Sierra Leone and Chad to emerging economies such as Ethiopia and low-middle income such as Ghana and Lesotho. He is a Senior Advisor and Head of Stabilization for the UNDP/LCBC Lake Chad Basin Regional Stabilization Strategy. Dr. Aniekwe holds a Ph.D. in Development Studies, a Master’s degree in International Development from the University of Bradford, and a Bachelor of Science in Political Science from the Enugu State University of Science and Technology. His previous publications include The African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance: Trends, Challenges and Perspectives; The African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance: Past, Present and Future; and Crime and Terror Nexus: The Intersections Between Terror and Criminal Groups in the Lake Chad Basin.



PAKISTAN
 

Saqiba Mannan

Saqiba Mannan is a mid-career civil servant in Pakistan with over a decade of experience in the field of taxation. Mannan began her career in government after working as a corporate consultant for three years and completing her law degree. With 10 years of experience, she has established herself as an expert in tax audits. Currently, Mannan serves as General Manager of Finance & Accounts at Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP), a state-owned enterprise responsible for ensuring food security. Mannan's future goals include focusing on the policy side of public service delivery systems and working as an international taxation consultant.



REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA
 

Radu Marian

Radu Marian has been a Member of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova since 2019 and is currently the Chairman of the Economic, Budget, and Finance Committee of the Moldovan Parliament. He is a founding member of the Party of Action and Solidarity and currently serves as the party’s vice president. Prior to his career in public service, Radu worked at the local Independent think-tank “Expert-Grup” from 2013-2016 and co-founded the educational project Twenty-Tu in 2017-2018. Radu holds a Master’s degree in international business from the University of Edinburgh and was also a Chevening scholar. He is included in the Alumni 100 list of the University of Edinburgh Business School for outstanding achievements after graduation. Raadu also holds a Bachelor’s degree in finance & banking from the Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova and completed a one-year fellowship in marketing in the United States at the University of Louisiana at Monroe.



RUSSIA
 

Polina Machold

Polina Machold is a publisher managing the financial and technical aspects of a Russian online journal, “The Project” (Proekt). Her expertise in fundraising, marketing, and IT has enabled her to build sustainable media projects with a strong focus on democratic values. Polina's unwavering commitment to freedom of speech in Russia since 2011 has given her unique experience in managing crises in Russian media, including successfully leading the Proekt team through their escape from Russia in 2021 after being named an "undesirable organization" by the Russian state. With over a decade of experience in the media industry, Polina has a deep understanding of the media landscape and is always exploring new trends and technologies to stay ahead of the curve.
 

Yulia Gorbunova

A lawyer by training, Yulia Gorbunova is Human Rights Watch’s senior researcher on Ukraine, where she has worked extensively documenting war crimes in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Prior to the most recent Russian invasion, Yulia documented abuses in the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine, and in occupied Crimea, including enforced disappearances, prosecution, and detention of Crimean Tatars and other abuses by paramilitary groups. She has focused on a range of other issues in Ukraine, including refugee rights, the right to health, and the rights of the elderly and people with disabilities. She has also worked on promoting women’s rights and the freedoms of assembly, association, and speech in several other countries in Europe and the Central Asian region. Yulia holds a Master’s degree from the University of Western Sydney and a Bachelor's in law with a focus on criminal law and international law.



SIERRA LEONE
 

Hamid Gbawuru Marah

Hamid Gbawuru Marah is a business thought leader and development management practitioner with full-cycle project management expertise, including various standards of program designing, implementation, monitoring, learning, and controlling. His career has been balanced between nongovernmental organizations, the public sector, and multilateral organizations and private sector development experience. This has included businesses in West Africa, managing business accelerators, as well as youth employment and women's economic empowerment initiatives like market systems development for employment (MSD4E), value chain development (VCD), and private sector development (PSD).



UGANDA
 

Anthony Masake

Anthony Masake is a lawyer with 17 years of work experience on the frontlines of defending human rights and advancing legal aid in Uganda. He works with human rights defenders and civil society organizations to advance civic space both on- and offline. He has conducted extensive research on human rights and led training on fair trials, human rights monitoring and documentation, human rights advocacy, strategic litigation, and first legal response. Anthony currently works with Chapter Four Uganda as the Acting Executive Director and Director of Programs. Previously, he worked with Uganda’s Bar Association for 8 years in legal aid service provision for the most vulnerable sections of society. He is also a columnist and a commentator on current affairs.



UKRAINE


Our six Ukrainian fellows are jointly participating in CDDRL’s Strengthening Ukrainian Democracy and Development Program.
 

Anton Turupalov

Anton Turupalov is a political consulting and government relations professional in Ukraine with extensive experience in public service. He has previously served as Deputy Mayor of Mykolayiv, Advisor to the Minister of Healthcare of Ukraine, and Advisor to the Head of the Parliament of Ukraine. Anton's expertise lies in regional policy and local administration. As a key advisor on regional policy to the former Prime Minister of Ukraine, he played a pivotal role in implementing groundbreaking system changes, including land and administrative reform. Anton organized Ukraine's first coronavirus isolation facility during the COVID-19 pandemic under challenging circumstances. Following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia in February 2022, Anton co-organized the Assistance Coordination Center in Warsaw, a hub for coordinating humanitarian aid between Ukrainian and Polish authorities, international donors, and organizations. Currently based in Warsaw, Anton serves as an advisor to the Minister of Agriculture and Food of Ukraine.
 

Gulsanna Mamediieva

Gulsanna Mamediieva led the European and NATO integration of Ukraine's digital sector, focusing on various components like electronic communications, e-services, privacy, digital skills, and more. Since February 2022, she has been responsible for coordinating international technical assistance to support Ukraine's digital resistance to Russia’s invasion. Gulsanna serves as a member of the Council of Europe's Committee on Artificial Intelligence, Eastern Partnership Countries' Harmonization Digital Market Coordinator for Ukraine, and as Ukraine's representative in other international organizations. She is Visiting Fellow at the McCourt School for Public Policy at Georgetown University. She holds a Master's degree in Information Technology Law from the University of Tartu, Estonia, and is pursuing a Ph.D. in Internet Law at the Kyiv Institute of International Relations. Prior to her government role, Gulsanna worked as an IT lawyer at DLA Piper Ukraine, specializing in ICT and Intellectual Property.
 

Halyna Yanchenko

Halyna Yanchenko was elected to the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) in 2019 and is the Deputy Chair of Sluha Narodum “SN” (Servant of the People), a centrist, pro-European and anti-corruption Party. Shortly after her election, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, tapped her to lead government investment efforts. In January 2022, she was appointed as a Secretary in the National Investment Council of Ukraine. In addition, she chairs the Temporary Special Commission of the Verkhovna Rada on protecting investor rights. Prior to being elected to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, she led the Civil Oversight Council at the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine. In 2014-2015 was a deputy of the Kyiv city council. Halyna earned a Master’s Degree in Sociology from the National University Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. She also studied for one year at the Wichita Falls High School in Texas.
 

Konstantyn Chyzhyk

Konstantyn Chyzhyk is a Partner at British-Ukrainian law and consultancy firm Hillmont Partners, helping international companies develop business in Ukraine and advising the government and the parliament on economic and judicial reforms. As Deputy Minister of Energy and Ecology, Konstantyn coordinated European integration, investments, digital transformation, and security, worked on renewable energy sector stabilization and reform, launched new auctions on gas extraction, and managed the largest sectoral loan and grant portfolio in the government of $1.2B. As Deputy Head and later as Head of the Investment Promotion Office under the President of Ukraine, Konstantyn unlocked and secured more than $1B of foreign direct investments. As Head of Communications and International Relations of the Ministry of Finance, he promoted IMF-backed reforms and managed cooperation with investors and the IMF, World Bank, EBRD, and EIB.
 

Mykhailo Pavliuk

Mykhailo Pavliuk is vice-chairman of the Chernivtsi Oblast (state) legislature in Ukraine. Among his central duties is the protection of the mutual interests of communities (known in Ukrainian as hromadas) and local governing bodies. His interests have long been focused on Euro-Atlantic integration, decentralization and deconcentration of authority in Ukraine, and the engagement of public and non-governmental organizations in policymaking. As acting Governor of the Chernivtsi Oblast State Administration in 2018-2019, Mykhailo focused on the creation of a successful administrative structure of new, capable, self-sufficient communities. In 2006-2010 shortly after his university graduation, he also organized long-term public discussions about the advantages for Ukraine of European Union and NATO membership. In his spare time, Mykhailo volunteers to deliver humanitarian aid to liberated areas of Ukraine and to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He also supports internally displaced persons in Chernivtsi and coordinates their resettlement.
 

Olena Kutsai

Olena Kutsai is a lawyer with more than 15 years of experience in the international corporate sector, including work for Chevron and Scorpio Real Estate corporations. Olena currently serves as a Member of the Secretariat of the Business Ombudsman Council of Ukraine and is a Member of the Peace Coalition. In the Business Ombudsman Council, Olena leads high-level dialogues focused on improving the business environment in Ukraine. She is responsible for strategic cooperation with a number of stakeholders, including the Ministry of Digital Transformation and the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources. Olena drives several special initiatives to support the reconstruction and recovery of Ukraine following Russia’s invasion in 2022. She also develops policy recommendations promoting good governance, sustainable development, and the rule of law in Ukraine, working with the Government of Ukraine, Verkhovna Rada (parliament), the Office of the President of Ukraine, business associations, non-governmental institutions, international financial institutions (World Bank, EBRD), and international development organizations such as USAID and Agriteam. Olena is an author and co-author of the Council’s educational webinars and training for the private and public sectors. She holds a Master’s of Public Administration from the Ukrainian Catholic University and a Master’s of Law from the Eastern European University. Olena is a graduate of the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law’s Leadership Academy for Development (Stanford University) and an advanced leadership course at Harvard Business School.



UZBEKISTAN
 

Farrukh Irnazarov

Farrukh Irnazarov is a co-founder and Country Director at the Central Asian Development Institute and RANSIF Group. He has more than 15 years of experience working on economic development and investment strategies, trade and transportation, labor migration, and agribusiness, and has managed projects for the World Bank, ADB, UNDP, IOM, GIZ, USAID, UNICEF, GDN, Volkswagen, Gerda Henkel, and PeaceNexus Foundations. From 2014-2019, he was also a Visiting Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars (Johns Hopkins University and George Washington University in Washington, DC). Previously, Farrukh worked for the University of Applied Sciences Goettingen, the National College of Ireland, and the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations of Uzbekistan. Farrukh teaches master classes on leadership, communication, and interviewing in difficult environments, and he is a member of Traveler’s Century Club (having visited 100+ countries). Farrukh has two Master’s in Sciences from Sweden — in Business Administration and Economics from Stockholm University (2006) and in International and European Relations from Linköping University (2005).



VENEZUELA
 

Alonso Moleiro

Alonso Moleiro is a Venezuelan journalist, writer, political analyst, civic activist, and radio anchor in Caracas, Venezuela. He graduated as a journalist from the Central Venezuelan University and has worked as a reporter and columnist in El Globo and El Nacional newspapers. He is the founder and director of the magazine Contrabando, a Venezuelan TV commentator, and served as Vice President of the National Council of Journalists from 2008-2010. Alonso was a radio anchor in the Union Radio Circuit for 10 years until the Maduro government ordered that his daily program be taken off the air. Alonso also worked as an advisor and consultant for public and private affairs, and as a volunteer in some civil and political movements that have been fighting to restore democracy in Venezuela. Alonso is the author of two books and is a member of the editorial council of the opposition newspaper Tal Cual. He currently works as a correspondent for the Spanish newspaper El País in Caracas.
 

Cristofer Correia

Cristofer Correia is a political leader, businessman, and the author of the book Inclusive Urban Regeneration, in which public policies are proposed for poverty eradication in cities. He has pursued graduate degrees in Spain, the UK, and the United States, and is both a Chevening and Fulbright alumnus. In his political work, Cristofer is the National Training Coordinator of Voluntad Popular, an opposition political party in Venezuela led by Leopoldo Lopez and Juan Guaido. He is also CEO of Es Noticia, a WhatsApp network of 600 groups and 50,000 direct users for disseminating accurate information and overcoming censorship in Venezuela. Previously, he served as General Director of Citizen Participation at the National Assembly of Venezuela and as National Coordinator at Volunteers for Venezuela, a platform that has brought together more than 500,000 volunteers for humanitarian care in the country. Cristofer is a lecturer in Public Management at Andrés Bello Catholic University.

Read More

Summer Fellows from the 2022 cohort pose together for a group photo.
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The Gift of Connection: A Bright Future Lies Ahead for the Summer Fellows Program at CDDRL

A gift from alumni Sakurako, ’82, and William Fisher, MBA ’84, secures the future of the Summer Fellows Program at the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law, which provides opportunities for civic leaders from around the world to network and learn from Stanford scholars.
The Gift of Connection: A Bright Future Lies Ahead for the Summer Fellows Program at CDDRL
CDDRL directors
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The Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law Celebrates 20 Years of Global Impact

The center’s achievements include both informing public discourse about democracy, development, and rule of law, and also educating and training a generation of scholars and leaders who will change the world.
The Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law Celebrates 20 Years of Global Impact
Larry Diamond, Kathryn Stoner, Erik Jensen and Francis Fukuyama at the opening session of the 2022 Draper Hills Fellows Program
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Stanford summer fellowship crafts next generation of global leaders

The Draper Hills Summer Fellows Program reconvened in person for the first time, bringing budding leaders together with the world’s most influential democracy scholars.
Stanford summer fellowship crafts next generation of global leaders
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In July 2023, CDDRL will welcome a diverse cohort of 33 experienced practitioners from 21 countries who are working to advance democratic practices and economic and legal reform in contexts where freedom, human development, and good governance are fragile or at risk.

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Lauren Koong
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The newly-founded Stanford Democracy Initiative, which brings together scholars and community stakeholders to examine Stanford’s role in the promotion of democratic norms nationally and globally, has compiled and released a list of courses, projects and activities at Stanford that the initiative claims advance democracy.

Read the full article in The Stanford Daily.

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Upon completing the inventory phase of its research, the effort released a list of the courses, research and engagement activities that it feels advance democracy. The next phase involves holding deliberations with the larger Stanford community.

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In cooperation with Kino Lorber, the Israel Visiting Scholars program at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI) is offering a public screening of the film Cinema Sabaya.

Inspired by writer-director Orit Fouks Rotem’s own experiences as a teacher, Cinema Sabaya presents a deft and heartfelt portrait of art’s capacity to unite disparate communities, moving effortlessly between the gravity of their conversations and the genuine joy of this unlikely group of friends.

A reception with food and drink will follow the screening.

Parking at Stanford is limited. Please plan your visit accordingly.

This event will not be livestreamed.
 



About the Film


A group of Palestinian and Israeli women attend a video workshop at a small town community center run by Rona (Dana Ivgy, Zero Motivation), a young filmmaker from Tel Aviv, who teaches them to document their lives. As each student shares footage from her home life with the others, their beliefs and preconceptions are challenged and barriers are broken down. The group comes together as mothers, daughters, wives, and women living in a world designed to keep them apart, forming an empowering and lasting bond as they learn more about each other... and themselves.
 

Film poster for Cinema Sabaya
Courtesy of Kino Lorber

 


Levinthal Hall
424 Santa Teresa Street
Stanford, CA 94305

Film Screenings
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Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law, the Center for Ballot Freedom, New America, Protect Democracy, and Lyceum Labs logos

Extreme polarization between the two major parties has given us an unresponsive government and an American public that is dissatisfied and disaffected. A growing share of Americans identify as independents and say they would like to see more parties. At a time when polarization and extremism threaten our democracy, some reformers view political parties as unnecessarily divisive, and thus aim to undermine their role. However, anti-party efforts have a poor historical record. Parties are the essential institutions of modern mass democracy. They give voters meaningful choices and help political actors organize for collective action necessary to actually govern. Many experts believe we need more parties and stronger parties. How do we get there?

On April 13 and 14, Stanford’s Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law, the Center for Ballot Freedom, New America, Protect Democracy, and Lyceum Labs will host a 2-day in-person conference on political party reform and multiparty politics. The conference will bring together a select group of academics and practitioners to explore the value of political parties in democracy, the challenges associated with governing in a two-party system, and possible strategies for reform, focusing on the revival and re-legalization of fusion voting. The goals will be to expand scholarship and conversation about these topics and to build a community of thought leaders across the ideological spectrum.

Attendance is by invitation only. Memos available by request.


By invitation only.

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We compare political mobilization and support for democratic values during the French Revolution among the home bailliages and among individual members of French regiments sent with the Comte de Rochambeau to fight alongside American revolutionaries (1781-83), to others also assigned there who failed to arrive due to logistical failures and British blockade. We provide evidence for revolutionary contagion: bailliages with 10% more Rochambeau veterans were 6.4% more likely to submit grievances to the King that were “Most Strongly Democratic” in 1789. They mobilize political clubs earlier, are more likely to engage in revolt and as individuals were more likely to show loyalty to moderate democratic revolutionary reforms both within the army and the National Assembly. Other veterans mobilize too, but less so and not for democratic principles. Similarly, exposure to Enlightenment ideas has limited effects absent American veterans. We interpret these results as reflecting the complementarity between exposure to democratic ideas and organizational skills of veterans in generating contagion between two of the world’s great revolutions.

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Authors
Saumitra Jha
Steven Wilkinson
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Security Assistance in the Middle East: Challenges ... and the Need for Change event details

Hicham Alaoui, Robert Springborg, Lindsay Benstead, Glenn E. Robinson, and Sean Yom join ARD to discuss their recently released book, Security Assistance in the Middle East: Challenges ... and the Need for Change (Lynne Rienner, 2023). To order, click here.

Why, given the enormous resources spent by the US and Europe on security assistance to Arab countries, has it led to so little success? Can anything be done to change the disheartening status quo? Addressing these thorny questions, the authors of this state-of-the-art assessment evaluate the costs and benefits to the main providers and recipients of security assistance in the MENA region and explore alternative strategies to improve outcomes for both.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Hicham Alaoui

Hicham Alaoui

Hicham Alaoui is the founder and director of the Hicham Alaoui Foundation, which undertakes innovative social scientific research in the Middle East and North Africa. He is a scholar on the comparative politics of democratization and religion, with a focus on the MENA region. In the past, he served as a visiting scholar and Consulting Professor at the Center for Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law at Stanford University. He more recently served as postdoctoral fellow and research associate at Harvard University. He was also Regents Lecturer at several campuses of the University of California system. Outside of academia, he has worked with the United Nations in various capacities, such as the peacekeeping mission in Kosovo. He has also worked with the Carter Center in its overseas missions on conflict resolution and democracy advancement. He has served on the MENA Advisory Committee for Human Rights Watch and the Advisory Board of the Carnegie Middle East Center. He served on the board of the Freeman Spogli Institute at Stanford University and has recently joined the Advisory Board of the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard. He holds an A.B. from Princeton University, M.A. from Stanford University, and D.Phil. from the University of Oxford. His latest book is Pacted Democracy in the Middle East: Tunisia and Egypt in Comparative Perspective (Palgrave, 2022). His memoirs, Journal d'un Prince Banni, were published in 2014 by Éditions Grasset, and have since been translated into several languages. He is also co-author with Robert Springborg of The Political Economy of Arab Education (Lynne Rienner, 2021), and co-author with the same colleague on the forthcoming volume Security Assistance in the Middle East: Challenges and the Need for Change (Lynne Rienner, 2023). His academic research has been widely published in various French and English journals, magazines, and newspapers of record.

Robert Springborg

Robert Springborg

Robert Springborg is a Scientific Advisor of the Istituto Affari Internazionali and Adjunct Professor at SFU School for International Studies (Vancouver). Formerly he was Professor of National Security Affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, and Program Manager for the Middle East for the Center for Civil-Military Relations; the holder of the MBI Al Jaber Chair in Middle East Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, where he also served as Director of the London Middle East Institute; the Director of the American Research Center in Egypt; University Professor of Middle East Politics at Macquarie University in Sydney Australia; and assistant professor of political science at the University of Pennsylvania. He has also taught at the University of California, Berkeley; the College of Europe; the Paris School of International Affairs of Sciences Po; the Department of War Studies, King’s College, London; and the University of Sydney. In 2016 he was Kuwait Foundation Visiting Scholar, Middle East Initiative, Kennedy School, Harvard University. His publications include Mubarak’s Egypt. Fragmentation of the Political Order (1989); Family Power and Politics in Egypt (1982); Legislative Politics in the Arab World (1999, co-authored with Abdo Baaklini and Guilain Denoeux); Globalization and the Politics of Development in the Middle East first and second editions, (2001 and 2010, co-authored with Clement M. Henry); Oil and Democracy in Iraq (2007); Development Models in Muslim Contexts: Chinese, ‘Islamic’ and Neo-Liberal Alternatives(2009) and several editions of Politics in the Middle East (co-authored with James A. Bill). He co-edited a volume on popular culture and political identity in the Gulf that appeared in 2008. He has published in the leading Middle East journals and was the founder and regular editorialist for The Middle East in London, a monthly journal that commenced publication in 2003.

Lindsay Benstead

Lindsay J. Benstead

Lindsay J. Benstead is Associate Professor of Political Science in the Mark O. Hatfield School of Government and Director of the Middle East Studies Center (MESC) at Portland State University. Her research on women and politics, public opinion, and survey methodology has appeared in Perspectives on Politics, International Journal of Public Opinion Research, Governance, and Foreign Affairs. She holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Political Science from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and served as a doctoral fellow at Yale University and a post-doctoral fellow at Princeton University. For more on her research, see https://pdx.academia.edu/LindsayBenstead.

Glenn E Robinson

Glenn E. Robinson

Glenn E. Robinson is Professor of Defense Analysis at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) in Monterey, California, and is also affiliated with the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of California at Berkeley.  He retired from NPS after 30 years in December 2021. He has authored or co-authored four books on Middle East politics as well as over 150 journal articles, book chapters, government reports and conference papers.  His most recent book, Global Jihad: A Brief History, was named by both Foreign Affairs and Foreign Policy as a "Best Book of 2021."  He has won awards for his teaching at both Berkeley and NPS.  Robinson has been active in policy work, especially for USAID and DOD, and in his professional work for the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) and (as a Founding Board Member and Treasurer) for the Association for Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Studies (AGAPS).

Sean Yom

Sean Yom

Sean Yom is Associate Professor of Political Science at Temple University, Senior Fellow in the Middle East Program at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, and Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Project on Middle East Democracy in Washington, DC.  He is a specialist on regimes and governance in the Middle East, especially in Arab monarchies like Jordan, Kuwait, and Morocco. His research engages topics of authoritarian politics, democratic reforms, institutional stability, and economic development in these countries, as well as their implications for US foreign policy. His publications include the books From Resilience to Revolution: How Foreign Interventions Destabilize the Middle East (Columbia University Press, 2016); the co-edited volume The Political Science of the Middle East: Theory and Research since the Arab Uprisings (Oxford University Press, 2022); and articles in print journals like Comparative Political Studies, European Journal of International Relations, Studies in Comparative International Development, and Journal of Democracy.

Hesham Sallam

Online via Zoom

Hicham Alaoui
Robert Springborg
Lindsay Benstead
Glenn E. Robinson
Sean Yom
Lectures
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