Lukasz Kondraciuk is an international development professional based in Berlin, Germany, with ten years of experience designing and implementing sensitive closed society democracy and governance programs focused on combatting propaganda and increasing political competitiveness in the post-Soviet space.  

Lukasz joined IRI in 2013 and currently serves as Countering Foreign Authoritarian Influence Advisor for the Institute. Under this new global portfolio, he provides IRI with technical expertise and assistance in developing program ideas and activities for emerging projects on topics related explicitly to authoritarian and other malign foreign influence and interference and its impact on democracy and governance. 

Based in Berlin, Lukasz is also IRI’s representative in Germany, developing and cultivating strong relationships with key stakeholders in the country and the region.  

Until mid-2021, he served as a Program Officer and then Country Director on one of IRI’s closed society country programs. He led development initiatives that have served as a model for other IRI portfolios and piloted novel applications of social and digital media to existing closed society capacity-building programs. In addition, his duties included leading programmatic business development and outreach activities with USG and private donors. During this period, he built upon his experience conducting methodologically-sound monitoring and evaluation in a closed society, becoming an expert resource to IRI’s internal monitoring and evaluation professional development program. Moreover, in 2018 Lukasz served as IRI’s acting Director for the Institute’s office in Warsaw, Poland, for eight months. 

Before joining IRI, Lukasz worked for the Foundation for Polish-Ukrainian Cooperation in Warsaw, and prior to that, he had managed a successful translation agency founded with his university friends.  

He holds a master’s degree in Linguistics and a post-graduate diploma in Diplomacy and Foreign Service from the Warsaw School of Economics. Apart from his native Polish, he is proficient in Russian and English and speaks German and Ukrainian.  

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Sentell F. Barnes joined the International Republican Institute (IRI) in 2013 and currently serves as Resident Program Director, Tanzania, based in Dar es Salaam. Sentell also has over 15 years of experience working with political parties, elected officials, and building coalitions among elected officials and advocacy groups to support legislative priorities. 

Prior to his arrival in Tanzania, Mr. Barnes severed as Resident Program Director for Southern Africa where he managed IRI’s program activities in eight countries, as Resident Program Director in Nigeria where he worked to strengthen the political party primary process in the country and Resident Program Officer in South Sudan managing political party development. Under his leadership in Nigeria, IRI played an instrumental role in bringing political party leaders together to sign a peace accord ensuring a peaceful election process and transfer of power. He has also worked to support and ensure the inclusion of youth, women, and persons with disabilities in political processes. Mr. Barnes has served in key positions during both the 2019 and 2015 International Election Observation Mission in Nigeria. Prior to joining IRI, Mr. Barnes worked for several United States elected officials including Governor Don Siegelman (Alabama), Senator Richard Shelby (Alabama) and Congressman Tom Feeney (Florida) and a for large banking trade association. His most recent Congressional position was as Legislative Assistant for Congressman Sean Duffy of Wisconsin, for the office of whom he managed the Congressman’s Financial Services Committee and Joint Economic Committee portfolio. He has a bachelor’s degree in History and Political Science from Auburn University and a master’s degree in Public Administration from Auburn University Montgomery and was a fellow with the United Nations Alliance of Civilization and the British Council’s Trans-Atlantic Network 2020 (TN2020). He is married and has a son.  

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Brian has served as the International Republican Institute’s Program Director in Malaysia since 2021. In this role, Brian provides strategic oversight of several U.S. Department of State and National Endowment for Democracy-funded projects focusing on civil society development, youth political empowerment, subnational governance, and political party strengthening.

Brian is a governance specialist with nine years of experience designing and implementing voter and civic education, political party strengthening, and election support programs in Egypt, Tunisia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and elsewhere. He is also interested in integrating public opinion research into program design and has led several pilot initiatives to test innovative research methodologies to support IRI’s work, including random intercepting online survey and predictive modeling.

From 2019-2021, Brian served as IRI’s Resident Program Manager in Malaysia and from 2013-2019 supported IRI’s programs in the Middle East and North Africa in various roles. Prior to joining IRI, Brian served at the Atlantic Council and at the Project on Middle East Democracy supporting research and advocacy on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. He earned his M.A. in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Chicago and B.A. in International Relations and German from Cornell College. 

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Casey Cagley is an Advisor for Latin America and the Caribbean at IRI. Until recently, Casey served as the Resident Program Director for Bolivia, where he oversaw impactful programming on elections, legislative strengthening, and civil society development. Based in Seattle, Washington, he brings more than 10 years of experience in international development and democratic governance in Latin America.

Casey has published on youth issues and generational change in politics, populism and autocracy, climate and environmental governance, access to information, and human rights. He has managed high-impact programs in more than seven countries in the region and spearheaded innovations in polling in closed societies, overseen led IRI’s first humanitarian assistance program, and opened IRI’s programming in Argentina.

In his current role, Casey supports engagement in new countries and thematic areas while developing new lines of business for IRI Latin America and the Caribbean. He also supports the development and implementation of IRI’s strategy in Latin America and the Caribbean. A father of two, certified scuba diver, and former professional musician, Casey also has a MA in political science from George Mason University, in Virginia. 

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Craig Castagna serves as IRI’s Resident Program Director in Ulaanbaatar. He has more than ten years’ experience in democracy & governance, community development, and citizen empowerment initiatives in Mongolia.

From 2012 to 2018, Craig worked at IRI’s headquarters in Washington, DC, where he designed innovative technical programs that produced high impact results across a variety of political and civil sectors, including the USAID-funded Leaders Advancing Democracy (LEAD) program, which supported the next generation of democracy champions, ages 25 – 40, to revive civic engagement and serve as young change agents in their communities. Craig helped spearhead the Youth Voices Summit in 2019, which convened over a thousand youth from across Mongolia to engage on policy issues such as urban governance, environmental protection, and anti-corruption. He also manages USAID’s CEPPS-funded SWYEEPPM (Strengthening Women and Youth Engagement in the Electoral and Political Processes in Mongolia) program. From 2007-2008, Craig worked as a supervisor at the Educational Advising & Resource Center (EARC NGO) in Ulaanbaatar. He served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mongolia from 2005-2007. Craig is an Eagle Scout and holds a Bachelor of Arts from Quinnipiac University and Master of Public Administration from the University of Maine.

Authored Content

• News
• Blog

IRI Marks 30 Years of Democracy Support in Mongoli…

July 5, 2022 –

Following Mongolia’s peaceful revolution in 1990, which replaced the Soviet yoke with democracy and enabled the country to pursue an…

• News
• Blog

Despite Civil Society’s Contributions to Democracy…

March 2, 2022 –

Since peacefully transitioning to a democracy in 1990, landlocked Mongolia is often described as an “island of democracy” between Russia…

• News
• Blog

Despite a Surge in Covid and a Drop in Turnout, Mo…

June 22, 2021 –

In the 30 years since becoming a democracy, Mongolia has proven to be resilient, even in the face of a…

• News
• News Release

Analyzing Mongolia’s June 24 Parliamentary Electio…

July 2, 2020 –

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia— On June 24, Mongolians cast their ballots to elect 76 members of its national parliament, the State Great Khural.…

• News
• Blog

IRI and TAF Collaborate to Strengthen Women and Yo…

June 19, 2020 –

As Mongolia prepares for its ninth parliamentary election this month, the country is forging a path to increased citizen engagement…

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Jorge Ceballos is currently the Resident Program Director for El Salvador; he leads the programs that are developed at the local and national level with governments and citizens; he also serves as Chief of Party of the Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening (CEPPS) in El Salvador. 

Ceballos has more than 10 years of experience managing and implementing governance and democracy programs. Mr. Ceballos excels in managing complex political, elections and civil society programs that require close coordination and strategic leadership. His areas of expertise include designing and implementing programs that strengthen political parties and electoral processes, as well as working with civil society and civil society organizations (CSOs) throughout the region to strengthen their capacity and effectiveness at the local, subnational and national levels. Mr. Ceballos has also managed multidisciplinary teams in the implementation of local economic development, transparency and accountability, violence and crime prevention programs. He has a track record of promoting the meaningful participation and inclusion of vulnerable groups such as youth, women, LGBTI community and other marginalized groups.  

Mr. Ceballos has comprehensive knowledge of U.S. and Canada cooperation programs, has coordinated closely with funder counterparts and other donor agencies, and has a proven track record of delivering sustainable, long-term impact program results. Mr. Ceballos has been recognized for his experience in electoral and democratic processes and has been an analyst on radio and television programs to discuss these areas, and recent social and political events.

Authored Content

• News
• Blog

Proceso Electoral de Guatemala: Dos semanas despué…

July 2, 2019 –

El pasado 16 de junio los guatemaltecos llevaron a cabo su novena elección en el marco de su joven democracia. Los…

• News
• Blog

Cultura de Paz Guate

December 10, 2018 –

Guatemala se acerca al inicio del año (2019) electoral, un proceso que viene con muchos retos para todos los actores…

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Anna Chukhno is the Deputy Director of Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) at IRI’s Center for Global Impact. She leads IRI’s Monitoring and Evaluation team, which provides technical support to IRI’s programs with evidence-based project design, and setup and implementation of rigorous and results-oriented MEL systems.  

Prior to joining IRI in 2017, Anna worked for the National Coalition Supporting Eurasian Jewry, an NGO specializing in protecting rights of religious minorities in Eurasia, where she supervised research, monitored religious freedom legislation, produced analysis and publications on political developments in Eurasia. She has also worked for a variety of nonprofit organizations focused on democratization, civil society building, gender issues, and public health around the world. Anna is fluent in Russian and Ukrainian and has worked in Eastern Europe and Southern Africa.  

Anna holds a MA in Public Policy specializing in program evaluation and international development from the George Washington University, and a BA from the University of Virginia in foreign affairs. 

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Steve Cima is currently IRI’s Regional Director for South Asia, where he oversees the strategic design and implementation of programs within the South Asia region, including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives.

Steve has over 20 years of experience working in politics and on a broad range of democracy and governance programs. Before serving as Regional Director, Steve served as IRI’s Taipei-based Senior Advisor, where he oversaw the Taiwan office, which serves as a regional hub for IRI’s Asia work to encourage deepening ties with Taiwan and incorporating Taiwanese experts into regional programming. While in Taiwan, Steve also served as IRI’s Resident Program Director for Burma, overseeing program implementation, donor and local partner engagement, day-to-day operations, monitoring and evaluation, and strategic communications of IRI programs. Before working in Taiwan, Steve served as IRI’s Resident Program Director in Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, and Pakistan. In this capacity, he has trained thousands of political party members in messaging, communications, campaign management, and party polling agent responsibilities. Before joining IRI, Steve spent five years working on Capitol Hill as a Legislative Assistant for Congressman Darrell Issa and as a Professional Staff Member for the House Government Reform Committee. In 2004, he was part of the transition team between the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) and the U.S. Mission Baghdad in the CPA’s Office of National Security Affairs in Baghdad, Iraq. He has also provided professional support to several congressional campaigns in the United States.

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J. Michael Cole is a Taipei-based Senior Advisor at the International Republican Institute’s Countering Foreign Authoritarian Influence team. He is a senior non-resident fellow with the Global Taiwan Institute in Washington, D.C., the Macdonald-Laurier Institute in Ottawa, and the Taiwan Studies Program at the University of Nottingham, and a research fellow with the Prospect Foundation in Taipei, Taiwan. 

In his previous roles in Taiwan, he was co-founder and editor-at-large for the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy’s “Taiwan Democracy Bulletin,” deputy coordinator for the Forum 2000/International Coalition for Democratic Renewal’s China Working Group, chief editor of Taiwan Sentinel, senior staff at the Thinking Taiwan Foundation, a think tank founded by Tsai Ing-wen, currently the president of Taiwan, and deputy news chief at the Taipei Times. 

Prior to relocating to Taiwan in 2005, he was an intelligence officer with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), working primarily on the Middle East and threat assessment. He has a master’s degree in War Studies from the Royal Military College of Canada, the International Diploma in Humanitarian Assistance (IDHA) from the Center for International Health and Cooperation, and the CX-77 diploma in peacekeeping from the Lester B. Pearson International Peacekeeping Center.

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Jenai Cox is IRI’s regional deputy director for Africa. She brings 20 years of experience working on rule of law, human rights and governance programs in closing and closed environments. As the deputy director, she oversees the implementation of a diverse range of projects in more than a dozen counties in sub-Saharan Africa with support to political parties, good governance, civil society, elections, youth leadership and countering violent extremism. 

Cox joined IRI in 2018 as the administrative director of the Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening (CEPPS). As the administrative director, she was responsible for the day-to-day operations of CEPPS and served as the direct point of contact to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Washington and with Missions on all administrative and agreement matters under the Global Elections and Political Transitions LWA. Cox also supported the CEPPS management team to build consensus among the CEPPS partners on administrative matters. 

Prior to joining CEPPS, Cox served as the acting director for Africa programs at Freedom House. Her duties included designing innovative human rights and civil society projects as well as providing strategic leadership and oversight of staff in Washington, D.C. and five field offices. She also briefed U.S. government officials and members of Congress on human rights issues in sub-Saharan Africa to inform U.S. foreign policy impacting the region. 

Ms. Cox holds a bachelor’s degree in international studies and economics and a master’s degree in international peace and conflict resolution from American University. 

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