Chris Holzen

With nearly 35 years of distinguished leadership experience, Chris Holzen is recognized for his strategic vision and commitment to advancing democratic governance, peacebuilding, and institutional development in South Asia. As Director of the South Asia Freedom Institute, he oversees networking, partnership building, surveys, and advocacy initiatives that promote democracy, human rights, and regional cooperation across the subcontinent.

Chris is also the Managing Director and co-founder of Henderson International, a political consulting firm. Prior to establishing his consulting firm, Chris worked for over two decades at the International Republican Institute, most recently serving as Senior Advisor for Europe and Eurasia. Earlier in his career, he served as Deputy Director of IRI’s Asia and Middle East Division, where he provided strategic oversight and leadership to multidisciplinary teams in South Asia, designing and implementing impactful programs on democratic reforms, conflict mitigation, and civil society strengthening.

His Asia portfolio has spanned much of the region, with a particular focus on South Asia. Chris played a pivotal leadership role in establishing the Alliance for Reform and Democracy in Asia, a regional network of democrats and reformers. In 2005, he conducted the assessment that secured IRI’s first successful funding for Pakistan. He observed the 2005 Afghan elections as part of one of only two teams to deploy outside Kabul, working in Bamiyan, and returned in 2009 to observe from Mazar-i-Sharif. In Indonesia, he ran nationwide political campaign management and party development programs and led multi-country initiatives in South Asia. He also served as interim director of IRI’s political party program in Nepal. In 2013, during Mongolia’s presidency of the Community of Democracies, he served as Special Representative to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Mongolia, helping develop the country’s national democracy curriculum — the signature project of that presidency. He observed Taiwan’s 2000 elections as part of an IRI delegation, and represented IRI at a national conference of Chinese village election officials.

Beyond Asia, he served as IRI’s Chief of Party in Ukraine and Iraq and headed IRI’s Russia-focused office in Warsaw. As Country Director for the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) in Georgia, he helped establish the organization’s first office in that country. Chris holds a degree from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and is fluent in English and Russian. Governments, international organizations, and civil society actors throughout South Asia frequently seek his leadership and expertise.