Alina Inayeh is currently Lead Advisor with the Aspen Institute Romania, Marcin Krol fellow with Visegrad Insight (Poland), Non-Resident Fellow with German Marshall Fund. Alina’s field of expertise is defense and security, with a special focus on the Black Sea region. Her writings may be found on the websites of the institutes she is affiliated with and on her blog at Adevarul.ro. Alina has been a speaker on issues related to the Black Sea and trans-Atlantic security, writ large. She has been one of the founders of Commission on the Black Sea, a group of select experts on this issue.

Alina has run the Bucharest Office of the German Marshall Fund for 15 years, developing a portfolio of grants for civil society throughout the region, and leading the organization of numerous events and study tours featuring the Black Sea region. Her legacy is an impressive network of grantees and numerous success stories of civic action and strategic thinking, as well as a Black Sea Trust that continues the work in and on the region.

Alina has been the Director of Freedom House office in Ukraine in the year of 2004, working with civil society groups on political participation, election monitoring and further emancipation of Ukrainian civil society. Previously, she run the Moscow office of the National Democratic Institute, helping build a country-wide network of domestic election monitors.

Alina started her civic activity in Romania as one of the founders of Pro-Democracy Association, a well known organization promoting and advocating for free and fair elections and citizen participation.

Alina holds a Bachelor’s degree in Geology from the University of Bucharest and a Master on Public Policy from the University of Princeton, USA.