The National Democratic Institute (NDI) announced today six new members of its Board of Directors.

They are former U.S. Rep. Howard Berman, former chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee; Ambassador Johnnie Carson, former assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of African Affairs; Rye Barcott, author of It Happened on the Way to War and co-founder of Carolina for Kibera (CFK); Suzy George, principal of the Albright Stonebridge Group; Maureen White, former senior advisor on humanitarian issues in the Office of the Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan in the U.S. Department of State; and J. Brian Atwood, former administrator of the Agency for International Development and former NDI president.

“We are delighted to welcome this distinguished group to our board,” said NDI Chairman Madeleine Albright, former secretary of state. “The wide range of experience each of them brings to the board will benefit NDI’s mission to support democratic institutions around the world.”

Barcott, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps for five years in Iraq, Bosnia and the Horn of Africa, co-founded Carolina for Kibera (CFK), a nongovernmental organization that works to develop local leaders and alleviate poverty in the Kibera slum of Nairobi. He currently works as special advisor to the chairman at Duke Energy in Charlotte, N. C.

Former Rep. Berman, who the National Journal described as “one of the most creative members of the House,” served as chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property, as well as chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Ambassador Carson’s career in the foreign service spanned 37 years, during which time he served as ambassador to Kenya, Zimbabwe and Uganda.

George, who draws on more than 20 years of experience in strategic project management, formerly served as deputy chief of staff at the State Department under Secretary Albright. She was a member of the NDI staff from 1990 to 1993.

White served as the U.S. government representative to the United Nations Children’s Fund in the second Clinton administration, where she worked on HIV/AIDS issues.

Atwood, who served as president of NDI from 1986 to 1993, was dean of the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs from October 2002 to January 2011. He returns to NDI’s board after taking leave in 2011 to serve as chair of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC), a permanent forum of the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) that coordinates international development policy. Previously, Atwood served for six years as administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development during the Clinton administration.

“The new board members will help guide the Institute as it responds to new challenges and opportunities for democratic development around the world,” said Kenneth Wollack, NDI president.

Published Nov. 13, 2013