About

John Mackedon is a Consultant with the Agriculture and Rural Development (ARD) department at the World Bank, based in Washington, D.C. John holds a MA in European and Eurasian Studies from the Elliott School of International Affairs at the George Washington University. He has also completed coursework towards a MA in Russian Studies at the European University at St. Petersburg in St. Petersburg, Russia. John lived and worked in Georgia from 2002-2006, first as a Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) Volunteer for the United States Peace Corps and then as a freelance journalist and consultant.

Aziz Burkhanov is a doctoral student at Indiana University-Bloomington. He also holds a Master degree in Political Science from University of Paris-II Pantheon-Assas. Before starting his doctoral studies, Aziz Burkhanov worked in various areas of research and consulting, including multiple-year tenures at the IWEP, a think-tank advising the Government of Kazakhstan on international affairs and IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates, a world-leading company advising global energy players.

Michael Hikari Cecire is an economic development practitioner, freelance writer, and independent analyst currently based in Tbilisi. A former Peace Corps Volunteer in Georgia, he is a frequent commentator on economic development and South Caucasus policy issues. He holds degrees from Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Pennsylvania and has written articles for the London Telegraph, World Politics Review and TCS Daily. He is also the Managing Editor of Evolutsia.Net, a Georgia news analysis and commentary website.

Philip de Leon is president of Trade Connections International, LLC, a Washington D.C. based consultancy. He can be reached at: Philip@tradeconnectionsinternational.com.

Andrey Gidaspov has over twelve years of experience in business consulting in the IT and telecom (ICT) fields. He currently manages the U.S.-China Bilateral Trade Internship Program at The Washington Center.