NDI 2007, Public Affairs

Gest, a communications and public affairs consultant and editor, was most recently the director of public affairs at the National Democratic Institute (NDI). Gest joined NDI in 2007 after a 30-year career in Washington, D.C., as a journalist, Capitol Hill staff member and public affairs consultant. She was a member of NDI election observer delegations in Afghanistan, Albania, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Georgia, Jordan, Lebanon, Liberia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Ukraine and West Bank/Gaza, and she has taken part in NDI overseas training missions working with spokespeople, parliamentarians, journalists and political operatives from Albania, Angola, Botswana, Egypt, Haiti, Honduras, Jordan, Iraq, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Malawi, Mozambique, Romania, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Tanzania, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

When at Powell Tate | Weber Shandwick, Gest co-chaired the international practice, advising foreign governments, embassies, organizations and corporations seeking to achieve public policy goals in the U.S. and abroad. She has represented the European Union, the embassies of Cyprus, Germany and Morocco, and clients in Gabon, Malaysia, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan and Tunisia.

She is a graduate of Northwestern University and the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University.