Irina Arabidze

Irina Arabidze is currently working as Oversight Institutions Lead in the USAID National Governance Program. Here, she leads the Program team to design and deliver assistance to strengthen the accountability systems, procedures, and mechanisms of Georgia’s oversight mechanisms.

Previously, Arabidze operated as Legislative and Oversight Component Manager for USAID’s Good Governance Initiative (GGI) from 2018 to 2022, where she supervised organization of projects enhancing evidence-based policymaking and oversight at parliamentary level in Georgia.

Her earlier professional experience included an eight-year stint with the European Union Monitoring Mission in Georgia, where in the role of Press and Public Information Officer/Political Briefer, she issued daily political and security briefings, managed media relations, and advised on communications and public outreach issues.

Her other roles also have included serving as a visiting lecturer at Caucasus University and as a fellow at the Hudson Institute.

Arabidze holds a master’s degree in International Affairs from Texas A&M University’s Bush School of Government, where she was a Fulbright Scholar, and another master’s in International Relations and European Studies from Central European University. She is native in Georgian, fluent in English, and competent in Russian.