CKRO
Mission Statement
The Center on Kirkuk Referendum Operations provides a dynamic informational database and academic portal designed to examine issues related to the constitutionally mandated referendum in the Kirkuk region and disputed territories of the Republic of Iraq. The Center was created to foster a broader understanding among policymakers, practitioners, and academics of potential challenges and opportunities as the Kirkuk referendum process moves forward.
The Center has identified critical questions, examined recent historical timelines, collected a series of academic and timely resources, provided a database of professional organizations and institutions involved in the process, and analyzed recommendations on specific processes and operations, such as short term and long term observation.
Who Are We?
Affiliated with Georgetown University's Center for Democracy and Society, the Center for Kirkuk Referendum Operations is a collaboration of the following individuals:
Liza Prendergast
Liza Prendergast is a second year Democracy and Governance Master’s candidate. She is also Assistant Director of the Washington D.C. Office at the Center for Civic Education; she joined the Center in 2002 and since that time has served in various capacities, including as co-manager of the Campaign to Promote Civic Education and as a program officer for the Civitas International Programs. She has worked with partners in Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa, Southeast Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the United States. Most recently, she co-authored an article for ElectionGuide Digest, a project of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, arguing for the broader inclusion of civic education in US foreign policy.
Kevin J.D. Wilson
Kevin J. Dunlevy-Wilson is a first year Democracy and Governance Master's candidate. His background includes roles in both legislative bodies and humanitarian organizations. Prior to joining the Kirkuk Referendum Initiative, he served as chief of staff for a member of the Colorado General Assembly. He currently volunteers as the Director of International Outreach for the Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Response Association where he works with issues of development and hazard mitigation.
Zvisinei Sandi
Zvisinei Sandi is currently a second year Masters in Democracy and Governance candidate. A Zimbabwean political activist, she has been exiled to the United States where she continues to take an interest in African politics and to write widely about on the topic of human rights. Zvisinei speaks four languages, namely English, Shona, French and Arabic.
Deborah Brown
Deborah Brown is a second year Democracy and Governance Master's candidate. Before attending Georgetown, she was a Program Reporting Officer for the National Democratic Institute in Beirut, Lebanon and a Program Associate for the International Foundation for Electoral System supporting programs in Europe and Asia. She has served as an international election observer in South Sudan in 2010 and Lebanon in 2009. She is currently an editor for Democracy & Society, a Georgetown University publication, and is conducting research for a book on global autocracy for Drs. Daniel Brumberg and Steven Heydemann.
Geneve Bergeron
Geneve Bergeron is a first year Democracy and Governance Master's candidate. During the 2008 election cycle she worked as a Field Organizer for the Democratic Party of Georgia, focusing on voter registration and local party capacity-building. She also has a background in Middle Eastern affairs, having served as a research assistant at the bilateral organization American-Kuwaiti Alliance. She minored in Arabic while an undergraduate at Georgetown University.
Jeff Fischer
Jeff Fischer is an adjunct professor with Georgetown University’s M.A. Program in Democracy and Governance, teaching “International Electoral Policies and Practices.” He currently serves as Team Leader for the Electoral Education and Integrity Program at Creative Associates International, Inc.
Mr. Fischer has held three internationally appointed positions in post-conflict electoral transitions. In 1996, he was appointed by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to serve as Director General of Elections for the first post-conflict elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 1999, Mr. Fischer was appointed by the United Nations (UN) as Chief Electoral Officer for the Popular Consultation for East Timor. And, in 2000, he received a joint appointment from the UN and OSCE to head the Joint Registration Taskforce in Kosovo and served as the OSCE’s Director of Election Operations in Kosovo. Additionally, Mr. Fischer served as a senior advisor to the UN and Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq during the 2005 election cycle.
Since 1987, Mr. Fischer has participated in electoral assistance, observation, or conference projects in over 50 countries and territories in the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Asia. Much of this participation was through his 16 year association with the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) as Executive Vice President, Senior Advisor, and in various consulting roles. Mr. Fischer has also served as a municipal and state election official in the United States as both a Commissioner on the Kansas City (Missouri) Election Board (1985 – 1989) and the Missouri Campaign Finance Review Board (1990-1992).
Mr. Fischer has been a Visiting Lecturer in International Affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University teaching a policy seminar on Elections in Fragile States (2006 – 2009). Mr. Fischer has a Master of Science from George Mason University in Peacekeeping Operations Policy.
What is CKRO?
The Center for Kirkuk Referendum Operations is a collaborative initiative of the Center for Democracy and Society at Georgetown University.
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