Professional Biography

Fiona has worked on International development programs in the U.S., Middle East and Central Asia since 2005 in the areas of strategic communications, government outreach, media, and civil society engagement in the security, justice, economic reform and civil rights policy sectors. Prior to field work, she was Senior Program Manager, Levant at the National Democratic Institute in Washington, DC, overseeing democratization programming in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria. There she coordinated the NDI-Carter Center International Election Observation Mission to the 2006 Palestinian Legislative Election that brought Hamas to official power. She served as an election observer in Jenin for that election, as well as in Cairo for the 2005 Egyptian Presidential Election.

Before beginning development work, Fiona was a strategic outreach advisor in the Cabinet of UNESCO’s headquarters in Paris where she worked with the White House on the launch of the UN literacy decade, and was Director of Communication for the United Nations Association of the USA in New York working regularly with senior UN officials and diplomats. She began her career as newspaper reporter, and continues to work as a freelance journalist.

Fiona has extensive experience working with national and subnational government, civil society, and media. She has worked directly with government, CSO, and media representatives from: the U.S., Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Qatar, Iraq, UAE, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, and Kyrgyzstan.

Fiona’s writing has appeared in numerous U.S. newspapers and magazines including The Daily Beast, Ms. Magazine, Los Angeles Times, PassBlue, New York Post, Financial Times, The Washington Times and The Christian Science Monitor. She was Afghanistan Editor and later Editor-at-Large for Muftah magazine providing analysis on global issues. 

TECHNICAL

International Program Direction, Development, Management, Implementation
Non-profit, for-profit, UN

Middle East and Central Asia
Governance and government outreach, civil society engagement and development, policy advocacy

Strategic Communications
Messaging, earned media, stakeholder engagement

United Nations System
Working for, and partnering with, the UN system

COUNTRY EXPERIENCE

Field-Based
Afghanistan (10 years), Iraq, UAE, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Thailand / Myanmar

Headquarter Supervision with regular site visits
Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, West Bank / Gaza, Syria, Iraq

EDUCATION

M.A. Near East Studies and Journalism, Kevorkian Center, New York University

B.A. English Literature, Union College