Gio Kobakhidze

Gio Kobakhidze is the country director for the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) in Vilnius and IFES’s global technical lead on civic education. Kobakhidze has over 15 years of experience in the field of democracy and governance. 
 
Kobakhidze has managed IFES country offices in Georgia, Ukraine, and Lithuania and has provided on-the-ground support to IFES programming and operations across Eastern Europe, Africa, and IFES headquarters in the United States. In Ukraine, through pandemic and war, Kobakhidze designed and oversaw programming that advanced free, fair, and inclusive elections, increased political integrity, strengthened the nation’s digital transformation and cybersecurity resilience, championed the political and electoral rights of all Ukrainians, and fostered informed and engaged citizenship. In Vilnius, Kobakhidze leads efforts to support civil society, academia, and democratic champions in the region.
 
Parallel to this, Kobakhidze advises IFES worldwide on designing and implementing civic education programming that introduces young people to fundamental concepts of democratic citizenship, democratic governance, civic participation, and human rights through interactive teaching methodology. Kobakhidze established IFES’ flagship, country-tailored civic education methodology for universities and vocational schools: Strengthening Engagement through Education for Democracy (SEED). Through SEED, over 50,000 students have completed semester-long university and vocational school courses across over 165 universities and colleges in six countries and growing.
 
Kobakhidze is an American of Georgian descent. He holds a dual degree in political science and international studies from Chicago’s Loyola University and has authored op-eds on critical issues impacting the fate of democracy worldwide in outlets such as the Atlantic Council. He is a native-level English speaker and has basic proficiency in Georgian, Ukrainian, and Russian languages.