Maryna Rakhlei analyzes regional developments in Eastern Europe and is part of the team assisting civil society in Belarus. She studied in Minsk and in Berlin. Before joining GMF, Rakhlei covered foreign relations for the Belarusian newswire Belapan in Minsk, wrote for the German newswire DPA and blogged for EuObserver.

Kate Stotesbery is the managing director for Government Relations at GMF, where she works closely with both policymakers and experts in Washington and across Europe to advance transatlantic cooperation through policy engagement.

Prior to joining GMF, Stotesbery served in senior roles on Capitol Hill, where she directed policy work on foreign affairs, homeland security, and immigration. Her work at the intersection of national and international policy has informed key legislative outcomes and strengthened democratic governance initiatives. She is also a commentator and writer on the politics of US foreign policy.

Her international experience includes research on governance and public trust in Malawi as well as strategic communications work with former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright at the Albright Stonebridge Group. Stotesbery has also worked and studied in India and Spain.

A former Penn Kemble Fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy, Stotesbery is a Morehead-Cain Scholar and honors graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she received the L. Richardson Preyer Award for Excellence in Political Science.