Naomi Rasmussen

Vice President, Programs

Naomi Rasmussen is the Vice President of Programs for Democracy International. In this role, she oversees DI’s analytical and implementation programs globally. She provides managerial, strategic, and technical guidance across DI’s practice areas of politics, governance, learning, and peace and resilience, and advises on program design. Prior to her current role, she served as Deputy Director from 2019 to 2020 and from 2016 to 2017. From 2013 to 2016, she provided operational, administrative, and technical support for DI’s programs in Afghanistan, which included public opinion research, civic education, electoral reform, election observation, and anti-corruption. She also supported business development and the implementation of other programs, including DI’s 2014 observation of the constitutional referendum in Egypt.

Before joining DI, Ms. Rasmussen worked with GRM International (now Palladium) in Afghanistan managing partnerships and activities with government ministries in Kabul and Uruzgan provinces for a governance strengthening program. She also worked with the International Rescue Committee in Nairobi, Kenya on grant proposal development for its programs in Somalia, South Sudan, and Kenya and the management of grants in Somalia. In the United States, Ms. Rasmussen worked with Search for Common Ground to conduct primary research on racial healing and reconciliation in the U.S. and to convene a working group of leading experts and practitioners. As a student, Ms. Rasmussen conducted primary research in Rwanda and Burundi on transitional justice and in the Czech Republic and Poland on Holocaust survivors’ decisions to emigrate. She wrote her master’s thesis on racial reconciliation in Mississippi.

Ms. Rasmussen holds an M.A. in International Development and Social Change with a specialization in Conflict and Development from Clark University. She holds a B.A. in International Development and Social Change, with a specialization in Conflict and Development, and a concentration in Genocide Studies, also from Clark University. Ms. Rasmussen graduated magna cum laude and with High Honors from her department.

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