The National Democratic Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization working to support and strengthen democratic institutions worldwide through citizen participation, openness and accountability in government.

Barrie Freeman has over 25 years experience in international affairs. She is currently NDI's director for North Africa, overseeing programs in Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Morocco and Mauritania to strengthen democratic practices and institutions. She has conducted political assessments and observed elections in over a dozen countries, including recent elections in Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco.

Ms Freeman joined NDI in 2002 as deputy regional director for Central and West Africa, where she managed a diverse portfolio of programs across the region focusing on support to electoral processes, civil society and legislative strengthening, political party development, and the promotion of women and youth in politics. She is the co-author of "Transparency and Accountability in Africa’s Extractive Industries: The Role of the Legislature."

Before joining NDI, Ms. Freeman spent 15 years with the U.S. State Department, working in the political, economic and consular sections of U.S. embassies in Lesotho, Morocco, Nigeria and Tunisia. During postings in Washington, D.C., she served in the Office of the Inspector General and in the Office of African Analysis as the chief political analyst for Nigeria. While at the State Department, she earned the department’s Meritorious and Superior Honor Awards, as well as a Distinguished Analyst Award.

Ms. Freeman has also been a contributing writer to Freedom in the World, an annual survey of political rights and civil liberties published by Freedom House, and has served as a consultant to the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Lomé, Togo. A graduate of Tulane University in New Orleans, Ms. Freeman completed master’s coursework at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

Selected speeches from Ms. Freeman:

• Read Ms. Freeman's remarks or watch her presentation on election preparations in the Democratic Republic of Congo, delivered at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, May 16, 2011
• Recent developments in Liberia, remarks to the Africa Society of the National Summit on Africa, Jan. 20, 2011