Barbara James - Executive Director

Barbara is a rule of law and anti-corruption expert with three decades of experience in international development. Her expertise includes designing, implementing, and managing rule of law and anti-corruption programs in extremely sensitive and complex environments. She has a well-established track record of successfully implementing sustainable and impactful programs across diverse cultural and geographical landscapes, including considerable experience in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

Barbara has valuable experience leading rule of law and anti-corruption projects, including being a Chief of Party for several USAID-funded programs: Partnership Against Corruption (North Macedonia), Armenia Integrity Project, Afghanistan Measure for Accountability and Transparency (AMANAT) (Afghanistan). She also has extensive experience in rule of law as a Country Director with IDLO in Ukraine and for a number of other organizations.

Barbara’s experience also includes managing anti-corruption and rule of law projects for donors such as USAID, UNDP, UN OCHA, DFID, EU, SIDA, DANIDA, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, PATRIP (German Ministry of Foreign Affairs and KFW) and the OSCE as well as working with a number of not-for-profits and as Head of Operations for the EU Anti-Corruption Initiative in Ukraine. She has been publicly lauded for her steadfast commitment to combating corruption and supporting the highest standards of integrity—particularly in environments where the judiciary and public administration are often perceived as politicized. She is fluent in English and Russian and is a citizen of both Ireland and the USA.