Board - Election Reformers Network

Eric Bjornlund: Board Chair

Eric Bjornlund is a lawyer and is co-founder and President of Democracy International (DI), a U.S.-based firm founded in 2003 that provides technical assistance, analytical services, and project implementation for democracy, human rights and governance (DRG), peace and resilience, and other international development programs worldwide. He is also Adjunct Professor in the Department of Government at Georgetown University, where he teaches in the graduate program in Democracy and Governance; serves by appointment of the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development as a member of the Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid; serves on the Executive Advisory Board of the Council of International Development Companies; and is Secretary and Board Member of the Advancing Democratic Elections and Political Transitions (ADEPT) consortium of six leading democracy promotion organizations.

Over the past 30 years, Mr. Bjornlund has designed, managed, evaluated, and provided training and technical assistance for international development programs in 70 countries. He has expertise in elections and election monitoring, democratization, legal reform, and international democracy promotion, including in semiauthoritarian and conflict-affected countries. He is author of Beyond Free and Fair: Monitoring Elections and Building Democracy (2004; Arabic edition 2013), a seminal study of the emergence and significance of election monitoring, as well as numerous book chapters, articles, essays, and reports. Mr. Bjornlund has testified on a number of occasions before the U.S. Congress and at the United Nations and has appeared often as an expert at international conferences and on television and radio in the U.S. and abroad.

Mr. Bjornlund worked previously for the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the Carter Center, and he was a Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Earlier in his career, he practiced corporate and international law at Ropes & Gray, one of the largest law firms in the U.S. Mr. Bjornlund holds a Juris Doctor from Columbia University, a Master in Public Administration from John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and a Bachelor of Arts magna cum laude from Williams College.

Susan Atwood: Vice President

Susan Atwood has thirty-five years of experience in the fields of international political development, human rights and community participation in the United Kingdom, Belgium and the United States. Having worked at the Liberal Group at the European Parliament and as Executive Director for Liberal International in the 1980s, she is well versed in the challenges facing third parties in first-past-the-post election systems.

During the early 1990s, having moved to the United States, she directed election and civic engagement programs for the International Foundation for Elections Systems (IFES) and subsequently for the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) at the time of the first multi-party elections in East and Central Europe.

She holds an MPA from the Kennedy School of Government and taught a Leadership for Global Citizenship course for eight years at the University of Minnesota. From 2012-2014 she worked at the Center for Victims of Torture as director of the New Tactics in Human Rights program in the Middle East and North Africa region. She is a dual citizen of the US and the United Kingdom and speaks French and German.

Edward McMahon: Vice Chair

Edward McMahon currently holds a joint appointment as Adjunct Associate Professor of Community Development and Applied Economics, and Political Science at the University of Vermont. He previously was Dean’s Professor of Applied Politics and Director of the Center on Democratic Performance (CDP) at Binghamton University (SUNY). Dr. McMahon also served as Senior Advisor for Democracy and Governance in USAID’s Policy and Program Coordination Bureau.

From 1989-98 he was Senior Program Officer and Regional Director for East, Central and West Africa at the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs. He previously spent 10 years as a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State, specializing in African Affairs. He has served as a Senior Research Associate at Freedom House and as a consultant for numerous democracy and governance projects.

Dr. McMahon’s recent research includes analysis of the functioning of the new Universal Periodic Review mechanism of the United Nations Human Rights Council. Dr. McMahon has co-authored Piecing a Democratic Quilt: Universal Norms and Regional Organizations (Bloomfield: Kumerian Press, 2006). He is co-editor of Democratic Institution Performance: Research and Policy Perspectives (Greenwood/Praeger, 2002) and African State Governance: Subnational Politics and National Power. New York: (Palgrave Press, 2015). He has contributed journal articles and book chapters in edited publications on a range of democratic development issues.

Gina Bjornlund: Treasurer

Gina Bjornlund is Director of Administration at Democracy International (DI), a U.S.-based firm that provides technical assistance, analytical services, and project implementation for democracy, human rights, governance, conflict-mitigation, transition initiatives, and other international development programs worldwide for the U.S. government and other funders. Ms. Bjornlund manages DI’s overall daily office operations including staffing, facilities and policy planning and implementation. She has also managed programs in a number of countries for DI. An experienced researcher and program manager, Ms. Bjornlund previously conducted photo and film research for PhotoAssist, conducted research and produced documentary films in the U.S. and abroad for Koch TV, and worked as a Program Officer for the National Democratic Institute in Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East. She has worked on or observed elections in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Kenya, Pakistan, Palestine (the West Bank and Gaza), and Zambia and has lived and worked in Indonesia, the West Bank and Gaza, and Zambia. Ms. Bjornlund has a BA from Boston College and speaks French and Bahasa Indonesia.

Liza Prendergast: Board Secretary

Liza Prendergast is Senior Director for Strategy and Outreach at Democracy International (DI), where she has worked since 2013. At DI, she oversees program design and communications for democracy, human rights, governance, conflict transformation, peacebuilding, and related sectors. Previously, she served as a Technical Specialist in Civil Society and Governance at World Learning where she conducted political and civic engagement programming in Algeria, Myanmar, Egypt, Turkey, and Thailand. Previously, at the Center for Civic Education (CCE), she advocated in the U.S. Congress for the Education for Democracy Act in support of civic education in the U.S. and 70 countries. She co-directed CCE’s Campaign to Promote Civic Education, a 50-state campaign to improve civic education policy and practice, and managed Civitas International programming in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Ms. Prendergast holds a Master of Arts in Democracy and Governance from Georgetown University and a Bachelor of Arts in History from George Washington University.

She has worked extensively to support democracy and peacebuilding overseas. At DI, she has assessed civil society capacity in South Sudan, observed Egypt’s constitutional referendum, and designed numerous funded programs, including to assist Venezuelan refugees in Trinidad and Tobago, promote access to justice in Bangladesh, enhance civic education in Colombia, assess the rule of law in the Democratic Republic of Congo, support civil society engagement in Tunisia, and build peace in South Sudan. At World Learning, she designed among the first U.S. government-funded democracy-support projects implemented during Myanmar’s political transition, which became the Institute for Political and Civic Engagement. She supported youth engagement in Egypt and Algeria and trained CSOs across the Middle East for the World Bank in social accountability and participatory budgeting. She has also managed numerous Project Citizen Civitas International showcases, including the Arab Civitas Regional Showcase in Jordan, the Africa Regional Showcase in Senegal, and the Balkans Regional Showcase in Macedonia. In addition, she has served as an expert panelist on policymaking and advocacy at the World Congresses on Civic Education in South Africa and Indonesia and worked with local expert partners to organize World Congresses in Jordan, Morocco, Poland, and Argentina. Most recently, she authored “Confronting a Global Democracy Recession: The Role of United States International Democracy Support Programs” which appears in the book Democracy’s Discontent and Civic Learning (2018).

Kevin Johnson: Executive Director

Kevin Johnson is co-founder and executive director of Election Reformers Network (ERN). Kevin leads ERN’s research and advocacy programs focused on impartial election administration, independent redistricting, ranked choice voting, money in politics, and electoral college reform. Kevin has more than 20 years’ experience in election reform, including seven years overseas with the National Democratic Institute and ten years on the Board of Common Cause Massachusetts.

Kevin is also a member of the Election Expert Study Team of The Carter Center, assisting the Center’s U.S. Elections Program. Kevin serves on advisory bodies of American Promise, Fairvote, and Rank The Vote.

Kevin co-authored the first comprehensive study of secretary of state conflict of interest and pioneered the top-two proportional approach to electoral college reform and the nominating commission approach to secretary of state selection. He has published two dozen opeds on a wide range of reform topics in media outlets including The Washington Post, Governing, Commonwealth Magazine, and The Daily Beast.

At the National Democratic Institute, Mr. Johnson directed election observations in the West Bank and Gaza, Indonesia, and several countries in Africa, and organized advisory consultations for constitution drafters in new democracies, among other programs. With Common Cause, Kevin led a successful anti – Citizens United ballot question campaign in the city of Newton, Massachusetts and helped organize citizen participation in the highly regarded 2011 Massachusetts redistricting process, among other efforts.

In 2002 Mr. Johnson co-founded Liberty Global Partners, an investment advisory firm focused on venture capital and private equity in emerging markets. At Liberty Global, he has led capital marketing initiatives that raised more than $6bn for investment funds targeting China, India, Brazil, Africa, Central and Eastern Europe, and Southeast Asia.

Mr. Johnson has an MBA from Wharton and a BA in English Literature from Yale University.

Avery Davis-Roberts: Board Member

Avery Davis-Roberts has over 15 years experience in supporting electoral integrity internationally. She currently works at The Carter Center where she manages the Center’s efforts on rights-based approaches to election assessment and support, as well as several of the Democracy Program’s special projects. She has worked on or managed Carter Center election observation missions in Asia, Africa, South America, and the Middle East, and has supported civil society capacity building efforts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Zambia. She has authored published articles and book chapters on election observation, and human rights and electoral integrity. Avery gained her undergraduate and graduate degrees from the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London.

Larry Garber: Board Member

Larry Garber is an independent consultant, with more than 35 years of experience on election related work. Previously, he served on the faculty of the National Defense University, a senior policy-maker at the US Agency for International Development (USAID), mission director for USAID’s West Bank/Gaza program and as the Chief Executive Officer of the New Israel Fund.

In 1984, he authored Guidelines for International Election Observing, which transformed election observation from a casual process with limited structure into a rigorous discipline. As Senior Associate for Electoral Process at the National Democratic Institute, Mr. Garber led multiple observation missions and advised senior leaders in several countries undertaking comprehensive electoral reforms following political transitions. Most recently, he served as country director for a 2018 Carter Center expert mission to Sierra Leone and as the NDI co-director of the 2018 Zimbabwe International Election Observer Mission.

Mr. Garber has contributed chapters to several edited books and prepared articles, book reviews and blogs on issues relating to international development, democracy promotion, human rights, and election reform. Currently, Mr. Garber is a member of the National Task Force on Election Crises. Mr. Garber has a JD/Master in International Affairs from Columbia University and a BA from Queens College.

Maureen Harrington: Board Member

Maureen Harrington is head of client coverage for the financial institutions group in North America at Standard Bank, where she has held a series of senior positions since 2009. Previously, she was vice president of policy and international relations at the Millennium Challenge Corporation, a U.S. government corporation aimed at driving economic growth and reducing poverty in developing countries. Maureen also has been a special assistant in the Bureau of African Affairs at the U.S. State Department, and the director of the Massachusetts Trade Office. During the 1990s, she helped to build democracy in South Africa in a series of positions at the International Republican Institute.

Lionel C. Johnson: Board Member

Lionel C. Johnson became president of the Pacific Pension & Investment Institute in July 2014. His career spans nearly four decades, during which he has been a leader in international business, public policy, and economic development. He has served as senior vice president of the Initiative for Global Development, as vice president of Turkey, Middle East, and North Africa Affairs at the Chamber of Commerce of the United States, and senior vice president of Public Affairs at Fleishman-Hillard.

Previously, Johnson was vice president and director of International Government Affairs at Citigroup and deputy assistant secretary of the Treasury for International Development, Debt and Environment Policy in the Clinton Administration. He was also a senior advisor for Resources, Plans, and Policy to Secretary of State Warren Christopher and a member of the Department of State Policy Planning Staff. He served as deputy director of the Clinton/Gore transition team at the Department of State.

As a member of the U.S. Foreign Service, Johnson held assignments in the U.S. Embassies in Haiti, the Philippines, and Kenya. He also served as special assistant to Secretaries of State George P. Shultz and James A. Baker III. Johnson was a senior program officer at the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs. He was a graduate instructor of U.S. foreign policy and American politics at the City University of Manila, Philippines, and received his B.A. in political science from Rutgers University in 1982.

Johnson is a professor of Practice of International Relations at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. He is also chairman of Foreign Policy for America, chairman of Sudoc, and a member of the board of trustees of the RAND Corporation. Johnson also serves on the boards of the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies (AICGS), International Research & Exchanges (IREX), the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), Oxfam America, and the Center for U.S. Global Leadership. He has two children, Alicia and Christopher.

Tavan Pechet: Board Member

Tavan Pechet is Principal of Pechet Advisors where he provides strategic advice to successful philanthropic families. He previously served as CEO of a family office, managing the business and financial operations of a complex, multi-generational family. Now he counsels families and family foundations on best practices and bespoke solutions for their governance and strategy challenges.

Like his clients, Mr. Pechet feels fortunate for his success and for the opportunity to give back. His personal focus includes both funding nonprofits and helping them with capacity building and strategic planning to leverage their resources.

Mr. Pechet has also served as a business executive and as an attorney, and clerked for a federal judge. He holds a BA in Government from Harvard College, a JD from Harvard Law School, and an MBA from UCLA Anderson.

Janet Sawaya: Board Member

Janet Sawaya has over 20 years of experience in international development with a focus on civic engagement and empowering citizens to advocate for their rights and needs. She is currently an independent consultant working with private funders, multilaterals and international nonprofits on strategy, advocacy, and evaluation. She served in various positions at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; on improving women’s participation in political decision-making at Women’s Campaign International; strengthening parliamentary committees and their relationships with civil society for the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs in Malawi; conflict mitigation in Indonesia’s restive provinces at United States Agency for International Development Office of Transition Initiatives in Indonesia; and on developing civil society for Mercy Corps in Indonesia and based in the U.S.

In Memoriam: Lindsay Lloyd

ERN Board Member Lindsay Lloyd was the Bradford M. Freeman Director of the Human Freedom Initiative at the George W. Bush Institute, where he managed original research and programmatic efforts to advance freedom and democracy in the world. This included projects on North Korean human rights, an initiative to train emerging leaders in Myanmar, and efforts to encourage U.S. leadership abroad and re-energize our democracy at home.

Prior to joining the Bush Institute, Lindsay served for 16 years at the International Republican Institute (IRI), most recently as senior advisor for policy. Previously, he was IRI’s regional director for Europe and co-director of the regional program for Central and Eastern Europe, which was based in Slovakia. At IRI, Lindsay worked with candidates, elected officials, political parties, and civil society activists to develop lasting democratic institutions.

Before joining IRI, Lindsay worked for several members and the leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives, as political director for a political action committee, and for a presidential campaign. He graduated from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.

Lindsay was a valued member of the Election Reformers Network board of directors, to which he brought his good judgment, vast experience, and own perspective. For more information about Lindsay Lloyd’s extraordinary life and work, please read the statement issued by the George W. Bush Presidential Center.