Mariam Afrasiabi

Mariam Afrasiabi is a Senior Civil Society Advisor in the Civil Society and Media Division at USAID's Center of Excellence on Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance in the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance.  She previously served as a Democracy and Governance Advisor in USAID’s Bureau for the Middle East working on the Near East Regional Democracy Program.  She is an expert advisor and technical authority on complex and precedent-setting policy and program issues, develops policies, strategies, and plans for democracy and democratic development, as well as projects for agency-wide application, with a focus on civil society.  Mariam is one of the Agency's key points of contact on policy on and implementation of programming in closing and closed civic and political spaces.  She oversees numerous initiatives promoting civil society support related to organizational sustainability and mobilizing resources and technical assistance to respond to legal and regulatory threats to civil society.  She manages the Civil Society Organization Sustainability Index (CSOSI) in Sub-Saharan Africa, MENA, and Asia, overseeing development of the report for over 40 countries, as well as the Civil Society Innovation Initiative (CSII), a flagship program aiming to launch civil society innovation hubs globally. Prior to joining USAID, Mariam served as Chief of Party at the Academy for Educational Development (currently FHI 360) on multiple civil society strengthening programs working in repressive environments. Mariam attained her Master of Arts degree in International Relations at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, with focuses of global security and the Middle East, and her Bachelor's degree from Wake Forest University, with double majors in Biology and Spanish.