Mr. Holzen is a Senior Advisor for Europe & Eurasia at the International Republican Institute based in Kyiv, Ukraine where he provides strategic guidance for IRI’s Ukraine and regional programming. For the past two decades, Mr. Holzen has worked for IRI in 20 countries assisting democratic political party activists, grassroots campaign organizers and civil society organizations to increase their ability to successfully participate in electoral and other democratic processes. His background in Ukrainian politics is extensive having spent a decade managing the institute’s democracy assistance programs in that country.

Mr. Holzen also served as the deputy director for the Asia & Middle East division, resident country director in Iraq and as IRI’s Special Representative to the Mongolian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade during that country’s presidency of the Community of Democracies.

Prior to working for IRI, Mr. Holzen served as spokesman for the county government in Knoxville, Tennessee and managed various political campaigns at state and regional levels, including serving as a field operations manager in the U.S. state of New Hampshire for the 2008 presidential campaign of the late U.S. Senator John McCain.