Carl Gershman retired in 2021 after 37 years as the founding president of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), where he oversaw the NED’s grants programs in Russia and over 100 other countries. He also oversaw the creation of the Journal of Democracy, the World Movement for Democracy, the Center for International Media Assistance, the Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellows Program, and other activities aimed at fostering democracy around the world.
Prior to the NED, he was Senior Counselor to Jeane Kirkpatrick, the U.S. Ambassador to the UN, and Alternate Representative of the U.S. to the UN Security Council; a Resident Scholar at Freedom House; and Executive Director of Social Democrats, USA. He has lectured and written extensively about democracy and is the recipient of many international tributes, including awards from the governments of Poland, Lithuania, the Republic of Korea, Romania, and Taiwan.