Sameera Ali, Director of Grassroots Programs

Sameera Ali is the Director of Grassroots Programs for Democracy International in Bangladesh. She is an accomplished development professional with more than 10 years of experience in political party strengthening and election observation. A political advisor and media specialist focused on international affairs, Ms. Ali’s work has focused primarily on political party organizing, training, campaigns, and strategic planning.

Prior to joining Democracy International, Ms. Ali served as political director for NDI’s programs in Kazakhstan, where she oversaw the training of political party activists and oversaw all NDI national political programming. Ms. Ali has also served recently as a U.S. advisor with IFES’s out-of-country voting program for Iraq. 

Most recently, she has conducted training sessions for future women leaders in Georgia, where she also developed a Training-of-Trainers program for domestic election observers. In Bangladesh she recently served as a long-term Parliamentary Election Observer and liaison to Bangladeshi political parties while also managing observation of political campaigns, rallies, candidate forums, and campaign spending.

Ms. Ali also brings more than six years of experience with political campaigns in the U.S., having worked for Democratic campaigns in Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Virginia. Through her domestic experience, Ms. Ali has developed expertise in designing outreach activities such as Get-out-the-Vote campaigns and managing large scale party canvassing and recruitment.