Expertise: Democracy promotion, African politics, civil society

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Dara Francis is an independent consultant specializing in the role of civil society in democracy promotion. Previously, she was a Program Officer at the International Republican Institute in Washington, DC, where she designed and managed programs on local governance, election preparations, civic participation and conflict mitigation in sub-Saharan Africa.

Francis served as an observer during Nigeria’s state and national elections in April 2007. She has led political assessment missions in Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali and Zimbabwe. In addition, she was a civil society delegate at the Fourth Ministerial Meeting of the Community of Democracies in Bamako, Mali.

Francis has traveled to and worked in nearly a dozen countries in Africa, and has trained civil society organizations, youth leaders and women’s groups on advocacy, communications and conflict resolution. She was also a Research Associate at the Henry L. Stimson Center, where she focused on peacekeeping reform, civilian policing and US security assistance to Africa. She has worked with the Africa Division of the International Crisis Group and the African Security Analysis Program at the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria, South Africa.

In addition to her work with non-governmental organizations, Francis spent several years with JP Morgan's Private Client Group and has worked on a Department of Defense research study on stability operations and low intensity conflict for the Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC).

She holds an M.A. in International Relations from Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and a B.A. from the University of Michigan. She is fluent in French.