Lisa McLean serves as senior resident director of NDI's offices in Iraq, working to strengthen democratic institutions, supporting the political participation of women and youth, and helping to ensure open and fair electoral processes. Ms. McLean began working for NDI in 1990 and has served in Bulgaria, Montenegro, Slovakia and Washington, D.C. In Montenegro, she worked intensively with the parliament of Montenegro to increase its oversight and representative functions. In addition, she has worked for years on programs that strengthen the organizational capacity of political parties and increase their understanding of the concept of effective political representation. In 2009, she was the principal author of a major study, entitled "Accountability and Transparency in the Montenegrin Governance System." [2]

In her 20 years of service at NDI, Ms. McLean has implemented international political development programs in Albania, Bolivia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Georgia, Hungary, Liberia, Macedonia, Peru and the West Bank/Gaza, and served for almost two years as the Institute's senior advisor for political and civic organizing. In addition to her work with NDI, Ms. McLean served as the director of public affairs for the Council of the Americas and executive director of the Mexico-U.S. Business Committee (MEXUS) in Washington, D.C. She holds a B.A. in economics from Boston College and an M.A. in international affairs from Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies.