Scott Kearin is currently NDI's senior resident director in Kyrgyzstan, having previously worked for the Institute in a number of countries since 1998. He initially joined NDI to direct programs in Kyrgyzstan and later managed the political party program in Georgia before moving on to open the Institute’s office in Tajikistan in 2002. In 2003, he became NDI’s resident director in Nepal where he remained for two years before leaving to head the Institute’s office in Turkey in 2005. In 2007, Mr. Kearin took a five-month NDI assignment to work on election issues in Madagascar before returning to Kyrgyzstan for his second tour. In his posts with the Institute, Mr. Kearin has developed and implemented programs to strengthen political party development, parliamentary capacity, fair elections, media programming and civil society. Previous to his work with NDI, Mr. Kearin worked as chief of staff for two U.S. Congressmen and served as the executive director of the Alaska Wilderness League, where he helped organize and implement a nationwide campaign to protect the Arctic wilderness. Mr. Kearin earned a J.D. from J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University.