Swathi's Bio
Swathi Balasubramanian currently oversees the DRL-funded Justice and Dignity for the Middle East and North Africa initiative – a rapid response mechanism designed to address immediate, rights-focused needs in the region – as well as a conflict mitigation program in Lebanon [14]. She also works on the Kazakhstan-based BOTA Foundation [15] program, providing additional support to BOTA’s Social Service Program. She has been working in IREX’s civil society division [16] since 2007 assisting with technology for development programs throughout the former Soviet Union and youth-led civil society development programs in Egypt [17] and the Levant. She is an active member of IREX’s youth and conflict communities of practice.
Prior to joining IREX, Swathi lived in Russia [18] and conducted research on how communities in Russia were transitioning to a market economy, lived in Tajikistan [19] and examined issues related to labor migration, also worked at a non-profit in North Philadelphia. She holds an MA in Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, and a BA in Russian from Bryn Mawr College. She speaks Russian and knows some Turkish and French.
Swathi studied Indian classical dance for almost 20 years and has recently developed a passion for photography.