IRI Statement: Diane Zeleny Appointed Vice President for External Affairs and Global Engagement

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Washington, DC—The International Republican Institute (IRI) today announced that Diane Zeleny, vice president of external relations at the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP), will join IRI as vice president for external affairs and global engagement in October 2018.

“Diane Zeleny brings a wealth of expertise and leadership in communications and national security to her new role at IRI,” said IRI President Daniel Twining. “She will be a valuable champion of our mission to advance freedom and democracy around the world.”

Prior to joining USIP, Zeleny was a strategic communications advisor to the Atlantic Council, the McCain Institute for Global Leadership and the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, and was vice president of strategy and communications at the Legatum Institute in London. In her 18-year career with the U.S. government, Zeleny served as director of communications and external relations at the Broadcasting Board of Governors, director of the Department of State's Global Media Hub in Brussels, and director of communications to the Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy [JB emphasis] and Public Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. She has lived and worked abroad in Istanbul, Paris, Brussels and in Prague where she was director of communications and government relations at Radio Free Europe.

IRI has worked in more than 100 countries to advance democracy worldwide since its founding in 1983. IRI currently has operations in nearly 90 countries and offices in 37 countries.