Chris Hennemeyer

Chris Hennemeyer joined IFES (formerly known as the International Foundation for Elections Systems) in 2005 as its Africa Regional Director. Managing a team of ten DC-based personnel, Chris oversees IFES programs in Angola, Cote d’Ivoire, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. These programs promote a variety of democracy-related initiatives, including elections administration, rule of law, judicial reform, civil society strengthening, assistance to the disabled, etc. Before coming to IFES, Chris was a 19-year employee with Catholic Relief Services, in Burundi, Mauritania, Senegal, Morocco, Zaire (DRC), Rwanda, Benin, Ghana, Macedonia, and Haiti. Among other positions, he served as Africa Team Leader, Deputy Regional Director, and Country Representative in 6 countries including Rwanda during the genocide and both Congos during their civil conflicts. A former journalist with the VOA, Chris has degrees in Journalism and Literature, and has been published in the Washington Post, International Herald Tribune, Christian Science Monitor, Baltimore Sun, Jeune Afrique, and widely quoted in the print and electronic media. He is fluent in French and English, and holds the Senegalese “Ordre National du Lion”. Chris is a father of two and lives in Silver Spring, Maryland

Thematic Areas of Expertise