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.

Catherine Messina Pajic is the deputy director of programs for the Central and Eastern Europe region at NDI. In this capacity, she helps to oversee the design, delivery and evaluation of NDI’s efforts to assist the region’s national and local legislatures, political parties, and civil society. Since 2003, she has headed the Institute’s region-wide Roma Political Participation Initiative, a multi-million dollar program implemented in approximately seven countries. She has become one of the foremost experts in Washington on the issue of Roma inclusion, and has written and spoken extensively on the topic, including briefing members of the European Parliament in Brussels.

Before joining NDI, Ms. Pajic designed and managed a portfolio of international exchange programs throughout Europe and Eurasia for the National Forum Foundation, which later joined with the U.S.-based human rights organization, Freedom House. She lived for two years each in Warsaw, Poland, and Belgrade, Serbia, consulting for international and domestic organizations, including IFES and Beta News Agency. In addition, she spent four years as a fundraiser for a nation-wide animal rights advocacy group in Washington, D.C., and served on the board of the Animal Funds of America. Ms. Pajic has also sat on the selection boards of the Ron Brown and Hubert Humphrey fellowship programs.

Ms. Pajic earned a B.Sc. in mass communication from Boston University, and an M.A. in Russian area studies from Georgetown University. She has two children and has served on the boards of their daycare centers and parent-teacher associations, raising funds for improved playground facilities and after-school programs.