Executive Assistant

Relevant Work Experience

Executive Assistant to the President and CEO, EastWest Institute (New York, NY) 2011-Present

• Manage the day-to-day functions of the Executive Office, providing support to the President and Chief of Staff in all facets of the Institute’s work, including high-level and confidential communication

• Serve as primary liaison between President and Institute staff in three countries, coordinating all research and communications for President’s meetings, tasks and talks and ensuring information from the President is disseminated to relevant staff, as well as nearly 50 board members in over 20 countries

• Track the President’s external and internal deliverables to ensure successful completion

• Manage the Executive Office budget ($650,000), including bi-monthly forecasts

• Draft letters, memos and speeches for the President

• Prepare minutes for confidential meetings of the Executive Committee and Board of Directors

• Direct the work of Executive Office interns

Short-term Election Observer, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (Ukraine and Kazakhstan) 2010-2011

• Observed polling and tabulation procedures on election observation missions to Ukraine and Kazakhstan

• Documented voter fraud and intimidation and conducted interviews on electoral conduct with local observers and citizens

• Collected quantitative and qualitative data, contributing to post-election reports on electoral transparency in both countries

Poll Worker Trainer, San Francisco Department of Elections (San Francisco, CA) 2010

• As part of a team, trained 3,000 poll workers to run the November 2010 general election

• Developed and implemented curriculum and designed training manual

• Performed community outreach, including voter education drives

• On election day, worked in a fast-paced, high-volume call center troubleshooting polling place issues

Child Support Officer II, Office of the Attorney General, Texas (Austin, TX) 2010

• Responded to routine and complex inquiries and complaints regarding child support case processing and status

• Assessed child support cases to determine appropriate actions or documents needed to collect child support

• Conducted detailed investigations to locate absent parents and to verify employment to collect support for custodial parents

Training Troubleshooter, Travis County Elections Commission (Austin, TX) 2008

• Trained election workers to efficiently run polling places, including instructing polling place workers on election procedure

• Supervised on-site poll workers on election day and throughout early voting

• Solved on-site problems and ensured adherence to election code

Research Assistant, University of Texas (Austin, TX) 2007-2008

• Created “Rockin’ Russian,” a project funded by Liberal Arts Instructional Technology Services for the teaching of Russian language at The University of Texas

• Selected course materials and developed exercises

Education

The University of Texas (Austin, TX), 2008

Master of Arts in Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies

Middlebury College (Middlebury, VT), Summer 2005

Certificate in 4th level Russian

University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign, IL), 2003

Bachelor of Arts in Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies and History

Honors and Awards

Summer 2006 Foreign Language Area Studies Fellowship for study of Serbian (Arizona State University)

2005-2006 Foreign Language Area Studies Fellowship for study of Russian (University of Texas)

Spring 2003 Nominated for a Yaro Skalnik Prize for best undergraduate paper in Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies

Language Ability

Russian: 2+ on ILR scale (Limited Working Proficiency, Plus)

Serbian and Croatian: 1 (Limited Proficiency)

Contact this candidate