Americas Program Staff

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Dr. Jennifer McCoy, Director
Jennifer McCoy is the director of the Carter Center's Americas Program since 1998 and professor of political science at Georgia State University since 1984. From 1988-98, she also served as senior research associate at The Carter Center.  Among her responsibilities as the director of the Americas Program, she leads the Carter Center's Friends of the Inter-American Democratic Charter group and previously directed the Carter Center's project on mediation and monitoring in Venezuela from 2002-04.  She has directed election monitoring missions for The Carter Center in Bolivia, Nicaragua, Panama, Mexico, Venezuela, Jamaica, and Peru and has participated in election delegations to Indonesia, Haiti, Suriname, and Guyana. Dr. McCoy's academic career has included extensive fieldwork in Venezuela, Nicaragua, and in Uruguay, where she conducted research as a Fulbright fellow in 1991 and 1992. A specialist on democratization, international collective protection and promotion of democracy, electoral processes, and Latin American politics, Dr. McCoy's most recent book is "International Mediation in Venezuela"(with Francisco Diez, 2011). She is also editor and contributor to "The Unraveling of Representative Democracy in Venezuela" (with David Myers, 2004), "Do Politicians Learn from Political Crises?" (2000), and "Venezuelan Democracy Under Stress" (1995).

Laura Neuman, Senior Associate Director, Americas Program and Manager of the Global Access to Information Initiative
Laura Neuman is senior associate director of the Carter Center's Americas Program and manager of the Global Access to Information Initiative. She directs transparency projects, including initiatives in Latin America, Africa, and China. She most recently managed the International Conference on the Right to Public Information, convening more than 125 participants from 40 countries and the follow-up regional conferences in the Americas and Africa on the right of access to information. Ms. Neuman has edited widely distributed guidebooks, has written about fostering transparency and preventing corruption, and has presented at numerous international seminars relating to access to information legislation, implementation, and enforcement. Ms. Neuman served as a member of numerous international organizations on transparency, and as a consultant to the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and various governments.  Ms. Neuman has led and observed a number of election missions in the Americas and served as the secretary to the Council for Ethical Business Practice. Prior to joining The Carter Center in August 1999, she was staff attorney for Legal Action of Wisconsin and is a 1993 graduate of the University of Wisconsin Law School.

Marcelo Varela-Erasheva, Associate Director
Marcelo Varela- Erasheva is the associate director for the Americas Program. He assists with strategic direction, policy formation, development strategy, and management of the program, including budget, fundraising, and public relations. More generally, he serves as deputy director for overall program management, including both Carter Center institutional functions and with external clients. He is also a visiting scholar at the Latin American Caribbean Studies at Emory University. Mr. Varela-Erasheva was previously adviser and international cooperation project manager to electoral management bodies of Latin America and several international organizations and civil society organizations such as the United Nations Development Program, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the Organization of American States, the Inter-American Development Bank, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, the Open Society Institute, and the World Bank.

He has experience in designing, coordinating, and managing international cooperation programs on democratization, development, national dialogue initiatives, human rights, electoral processes, civil society, police, and military. He has also acquired extensive experience in negotiating and managing international cooperation financial resources. Mr. Varela-Erasheva holds a masters degree in European- Latin American relations from the University of Bradford, England. He also holds an MBA from the Universidad Europea de Madrid in Spain and the Universidad Interamericana in Costa Rica.

Kari Mackey, Program Associate
Kari Mackey is the program associate for the Global Access to Information Initiative of the Carter Center's Americas Program.  She provides logistical and administrative support to the project's various country missions and international initiatives. Prior to joining the Carter Center staff, she interned for the Carter Center's Americas Program in the spring of 2007, when she completed research on a number of issues related to the right of access to information.  Ms. Mackey is currently working on her thesis for her master's degree in political science with a concentration in international relations and comparative politics at Georgia State University (GSU).  She graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in political science from GSU with numerous awards, including best paper for her presentation of the paper "Democracy and Human Rights" at the 2007 Georgia State Political Science Research Conference.  Previously, she worked for four years as an assistant project manager for Sherwood & Associates Inc.

Sarah Lovatt, Assistant Project Coordinator
Sarah Lovatt is the assistant project coordinator for the Global Access to Information Initiative. After graduating from Vanderbilt University with a dual degree in political science and Spanish, she spent one year teaching English in Vera, Spain, and two years teaching English in Roswell, Ga.  Sarah began working at The Carter Center in October 2011. She assists in the general administration of the project.