Democracy

Iryna Khomiak is a program officer with GMF’s Ukraine: Relief, Resilience, Recovery program, based in Berlin. She works within the emergency response programming for support of Ukrainian civil society and independent media, especially in terms of the full-scale Russian war. Prior to this, she worked as a coordinator of the Master in International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law Program at the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder), Germany, and on judicial, police, and juvenile probation reforms in Ukraine. She has worked within international projects funded by USAID and Global Affairs Canada as well as on numerous projects of the British Council in Ukraine.

Inspired by the spirit of the Revolution of Dignity and her experience, Iryna decided to pursue her Master’s degree in human rights at the Friedrich-Alexander University in Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany. There, she focused mainly on peace and conflict resolution policies, women’s rights within this, and the right to education for national minorities. She also holds Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in the theory and history of literature and comparative studies from the National University of “Kyiv-Mohyla academy” in Kyiv, Ukraine. In addition to her native Ukrainian, she speaks English and German, and she has basic knowledge of Polish. 
 

Rachael Dean Wilson is managing director of the Alliance for Securing Democracy (ASD) at GMF, where she leads work on US elections and political analysis. Driven by her belief that safeguarding democracy must involve all Americans, Wilson has spoken in cities across the country about the importance of building democratic resilience to autocratic efforts to undermine democracy. She has commented on election security issues for print and broadcast news outlets ranging from The Washington Post and C-SPAN to WVTM-TV Birmingham and The Arizona Republic. 

Wilson served in senior roles on Capitol Hill and political campaigns, and has experience in corporate communications and PR consulting. She worked for the late Senator John McCain for six years, most recently as his Senate communications director and advisor to his 2016 reelection campaign. Wilson received a bachelor’s degree in communication in public service from the University of Pennsylvania and a master’s degree in global policy from the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University. 

Etienne Soula is a Brussels-based research analyst with the Alliance for Securing Democracy (ASD) at GMF. His research focuses on Chinese information manipulation, economic coercion, and use of technology exports to weaken democracies and to disseminate globally its model of techno-authoritarianism. He maintains ASD’s authoritarian interference tracker that covers more than 600 incidents of Russian and Chinese political and economic interference in Europe and North America. He also monitors and reports on Chinese diplomatic and state-media messaging. 

Soula previously worked at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Hudson Institute, and NATO. He holds a dual master’s degree in international affairs from American University and the Université Libre de Bruxelles, and a law degree from the University of Nottingham.

Brock D. Bierman is president and CEO of Ukraine Focus, a Washington, DC-based humanitarian organization committed to working directly with communities across Ukraine to meet urgent assistance needs through direct cooperation with Ukrainian local, state, and federal authorities.

Prior to helping found Ukraine Focus, Bierman established the Volunteer Ambulance Corps, Light Up Ukraine, and Playgrounds 4 Peace. These programs have helped delivered millions of dollars in humanitarian assistance to Ukraine since February 2022. Along with Ukraine Focus’ Rebuild project, they help thousands of Ukrainians defend their freedoms, rebuild their communities, and become more hopeful and resilient.

For his humanitarian contributions, Ukraine's Territorial Defense Force (TDF) awarded Bierman the Shield of the TDF of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and made him an honorary member.

Bierman has organized and led 13 missions to Ukraine since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion, raised $2.5 million in cash and in-kind contributions to support Ukraine Focus programs in 2023 alone, and established key relationships and partnerships with international organizations such as Rotary International and the City of Albany, New York.

Bierman has served two presidents, most recently as the assistant administrator of the United States Agency for International Development's Bureau for Europe and Eurasia, and was confirmed by the US Senate by unanimous consent. Bierman also served three terms in the Rhode Island House of Representatives. A native of Rhode Island, Bierman received a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Bowling Green State University in Ohio.