Our People .
Senior Practice Specialist, Democracy and Governance Lejla Kolenovic Ismail
Lejla Kolenovic Ismail is a development practitioner with more than 20 years of experience designing and implementing peacebuilding, governance, civic engagement, and media programs globally. In her current role, she spearheads Chemonics’ accountability strategy, e-governance, and digital democracy initiatives by providing hands-on implementation support for the company’s democracy and governance portfolio and facilitating cross-project learning and exchanges. Prior to joining Chemonics, Lejla served as a democracy and governance specialist for USAID/Kosovo where she provided program oversight and strategic advice to Mission leadership on the issues of civic engagement, independent media, and political participation of ethnic minorities in Kosovo. As policy officer for the EU Special Representative Office, she supported the policy reform on decentralization and minority rights to advance Kosovo’s accession into EU. In the aftermath of the Western Balkans conflicts, on behalf of the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission, she supported critical outreach and service delivery for internally displaced persons/refugee communities across the region. Lejla holds a B.A. in political science, international law and diplomacy from the University of Business and Technology in Pristina, Kosovo.
by Lejla Kolenovic Ismail
What’s Trending in the Rule of Law Sector
Instead of organizing events around report outs from projects, what if we started with a bold proposition: What could we do this year that would really help produce new insights and innovations in rule of law, citizen security, and transitional justice projects around the world, especially implementing an approach that puts people and their needs…
Rooting Out Systemic Corruption in Latin America Through Partnership
This blog was originally published by Foreign Policy magazine. Corrupt governance systems are a threat to democracy. They deprive people of much-needed public resources and services, weaken trust in institutions, distort decision-making in the interest of the few, and lead to deep citizen disengagement and apathy. Moreover, corruption disproportionately impacts groups that already tend to hold…