Jennifer McCoy is distinguished university professor of political science and was founding director of the Global Studies Institute at Georgia State University. A specialist on democratization, democracy promotion, mediation and conflict prevention, election processes and election observation, and Latin American politics, McCoy has authored or edited six books and dozens of articles. She served as director of the Carter Center’s Americas Program 1998-2015, where she created the group of Friends of the Inter-American Democratic Charter group; directed The Carter Center’s projects on Mediation and Monitoring in Venezuela 2002-2004, Ecuador-Colombia Dialogue Group 2008-2010, and U.S.-Andean Dialogue Group 2010-2011; led over a dozen election monitoring missions and organized former President Carter’s historic trips to Cuba in 2002 and 2011.