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Avery Davis-Roberts is a mission-driven nonprofit leader who has more than 20 years of experience — most of them at º£½ÇÉçÇø — directing democracy, elections, and human rights programs in both domestic and international contexts. In May 2026, she was named the Center’s new director of the Democracy Program.

Before stepping into this role, she most recently served for several years as a senior program officer at the Election Trust Initiative, part of Pew Charitable Trusts. Her responsibilities included overseeing funding strategies to strengthen U.S. election administration, managing grants, building relationships and partnerships, and more.

The Center, however, was where she had spent most of her career. The opportunity to return for her current position felt like coming home.

Raised in London, England, Davis-Roberts first joined the Democracy Program as an intern in 2003. From there, and over the next 21 years, she climbed the Democracy Program ranks, holding titles that included assistant program coordinator, program associate, senior program associate, assistant director, and associate director. To say that she’s well-versed in our democracy work is an understatement.

She’s served as the lead architect and manager of numerous projects, initiated groundbreaking programming, represented the Center both domestically and abroad, and authored countless reports, articles, handbooks, and more.

As the new Democracy Program director, Davis-Roberts leads a team of about 20 people in Atlanta, oversees the Center’s democracy and elections work both in the United States and internationally, and is reengaging with programs she worked for, or designed and started, in the past — including initiatives focused on digital threats and participatory rights.

She has served on boards and committees of the Election Reformers Network, National Task Force for Election Crises, Election Community Network, and Journal of Election Administration, Research & Practice.

Davis-Roberts earned both a bachelor’s and a Master of Laws degree from the SOAS University of London, England.