Salam and welcome! I am Dr. Elise Anderson, a qualitative researcher, program manager, and subject-matter expert currently based in Washington, D.C. As of July 2025, I am a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy and a Professorial Lecturer and Research Affiliate at the George Washington University.
Photo by J.S. Almonte, November 2022
Previously, I worked at Freedom House, the Uyghur Human Rights Project, and the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. I also have professional experience in grant-writing, university teaching, and academic editing gained through grad-school assistantships at Indiana University-Bloomington, and in event planning and public outreach gained through volunteer work. I am also an occasional translator/interpreter and performer.
Sadly, I was laid off from my most recent full-time role in May 2025 as a downstream impact of the Trump administration’s cuts to foreign aid. I am currently on the job market searching for a full-time position and am well poised with my diverse skillset to go in several different directions:
- Managing or directing research and analysis: My background is in qualitative and some quantitative research focused on human rights, rule of law, and area studies. I especially love the processes of research design, editing, and review, helping analysts and researchers to design projects, refine questions, and hone their writing for diverse (and often non-specialist) audiences.
- Managing programs: For more than five years I managed international-development programming at Freedom House and the Uyghur Human Rights Project. I have extensive experience building and leading a large community of practice that brought together close to 100 development practitioners, nonprofit and foundation representatives, government funders, and academic specialists. My project management skills include program design, budgeting and projections, compliance with 2 CFR 200, and more.
I hope to stay in the nonprofit sector, doing work with an emphasis on rights and social change. I am open to both remote and D.C.-based roles.
For inquiries, please reach out at eanderson at newlinesinstitute dot org.