Suren Avanesyan

Suren Avanesyan is a Professorial Lecturer (part-time) at The George Washington University and currently serves as Division Chief of the Democracy and Governance Division in the Bureau for Europe and Eurasia at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). He is a senior foreign policy and foreign assistance expert with extensive experience in interagency collaboration, program management, and team leadership in regions such as Russia, Ukraine, the Former Soviet Union, the Balkans, and Eastern Europe. His career includes leading the USAID Tiger Team for the APNSA on Ukraine and Russia, contributing to the USAID Rule of Law Policy, and supporting anti-corruption initiatives.

Avanesyan holds an MA (1998) and JD (1999) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and an LL.M. in International Legal Studies (2001) from New York University School of Law.

His research and professional focus centers on rule of law, anti-corruption strategies, democracy and governance, international relations, and public policy. He has directed justice sector reforms in Kosovo and actively oversees USAID programs in these areas across multiple countries.

Mr. Avanesyan’s advisory and grant involvement includes contributions to the Administrator’s Anti-Corruption Task Force (ACTF) and President’s Summit for Democracy initiatives. He previously served as a Senior Advisor in the State Department’s Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, focusing on Russian affairs and NSC-led interagency processes.