Janet Sawaya is currently the Senior Resident Director in Turkey. She has over 20 years of experience in international development. Just before rejoining NDI, she was an independent consultant, focused on strategy, evaluation, and advocacy. She worked for nine years at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, most recently leading the strategy, financial, and operational activities for the Nutrition and Maternal, Neonatal & Child Health teams. Prior to joining the foundation in 2006, Janet focused on achieving development outcomes by improving governance and civil society in developing countries. She focused on improving women’s participation in political decision-making as the executive director for Women’s Campaign International; improved strengthened relationships between parliamentary committees and civil society for NDI in Malawi; and focused on mitigating conflict in Indonesia’s restive provinces as the country program manager for the USAID Office of Transition Initiatives in Indonesia. She also served as civil society program manager for Mercy Corps both in Indonesia and the U.S. for a number of years and as finance officer and information officer for Zimbabwe Women’s Bureau. Janet began her career in international development as a Peace Corps volunteer in Namibia. She speaks Indonesian and German and received a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and a B.A. in political economy from The Evergreen State College.