Kevin Casas-Zamora
Secretary-General, International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) (Costa Rica)
Casas-Zamora has more than 25 years of experience in democratic governance as a researcher, analyst, educator, consultant and public official. He is strongly focused on electoral systems and democratic institutions—with practical experience as a high-level public official in his home country as well as multilateral organizations.
Casas-Zamora is Senior Fellow at the Inter-American Dialogue. Until recently, he was a member of Costa Rica’s Presidential Commission for State Reform and managing director at Analitica Consulting (Analitica Consultores). Previously, he was Costa Rica’s Second Vice President and Minister of National Planning; Secretary for Political Affairs at the Organization of American States; Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution; and National Coordinator of the United Nations Development Program’s Human Development Report.
He has taught at Georgetown University, George Washington University, and the University of Texas at Dallas, among many higher education institutions.
He holds a Law degree from the University of Costa Rica, a Masters in Government from the University of Essex, and a PhD in Political Science from the University of Oxford.