Kristina Wilfore
Nationality: American
Age: 38
Position/activity: Civil Society, democracy education, country director of National Democratic Institute
Length of time in Ukraine: since December 2009
Tips for succeeding in Ukraine: “You’ve got to hold on to the tail of the tiger and learn how to work in an extremely fluid environment.”
Kristina Wilfore knows artificial behavior when she sees it.
Possessing more than 17 years of experience in political organizing, Wilfore has been around a few corners. This includes detecting flaws in the legislative drafting process that equate to a sham.
By March 16, her National Democratic Institute and the International Republican Institute had had enough. Instead of becoming political parrots, they withdrew their participation in the president’s election law working group after it had kept its central functions of “transparency, debate, deliberation and drafting behind closed doors.”
It was an uncustomary stance. Foreign non-profit organizations in Ukraine usually don’t rock the boat, and limit their statements to neutral diplomacy.
But the Montanan said she wasn’t going to let the values from which NDI operates and the people her organization gives a voice be compromised.
“I’ve striven to raise the profile of NDI to aggressively defend [the democratic] values from which we operate and our role in that,” she told the Kyiv Post. “It’s a balancing act of trying to take leadership to in fact better support the democratic processes in this country.”
Wilfore moved to Ukraine to share her experience in elections, policy development and civic advocacy stemming from work in 35 of the 50 U.S. states “in order to help create a more vibrant and accountable democracy for Ukrainians.”
By engaging with various civil society organizations and political parties on both sides of the political aisle, she said NDI has a unique vantage point by witnessing how different audiences are affected by what others do.
“It’s not natural to focus on one sector, we get to see what others are doing and try not to get too cynical and continue mobilizing and engaging with them,” she said.
Wilfore said that since political change moves fast, aggressive action needs to be taken to stay informed, which includes talking to people outside Kyiv.
“I’ve visited 18 cities on many night trains…you’re mistaken if you think you could follow politics sitting behind a desk in Kyiv,” she said.
She described Ukraine as an Alice in Wonderland where “often things are the complete opposite from how they appear.”
Asked what she does to maintain her sanity in politically turbulent Ukraine, Wilfore says she gets back massages from the former Soviet water polo Olympic team masseuse and enjoys winding down with a glass of wine at the Hyatt’s Bar on 8.
“It’s perfectly positioned to offer a view of both the Saint Sophia Square and Saint Michael’s Cathedral,” she said.
Kyiv Post staff writer Mark Rachkevych can be reached at [email protected].
