Carter Center senior associate director to speak at Fairfield University on Nicaraguan elections | Press Releases

Dr. Shelly A. McConnell, senior associate director of the Americas Program at the Carter Center, will speak on "Nicaraguan Elections: Back to the Future?" at Fairfield University on Tuesday, Feb. 6 at 5 p.m. in the Multimedia Room of the DiMenna-Nyselius Library. The program is free and open to the public.

In her role at The Carter Center, Dr. McConnell tracks issues in inter-American relations and plans and implements anti-corruption and democratization projects. She has helped organize election observation missions in Nicaragua, Peru, Venezuela, Jamaica, and the Cherokee nation, and participated in observation missions to Guatemala, Liberia, and Mozambique. In addition, she has helped organize and lead hemispheric conferences on transparency and on challenges to democracy in the Americas. These projects are conducted in coordination with the Council of Presidents and Prime Ministers of the Americas, a group of 35 former leaders from throughout the Americas who strive to promote democracy and improve inter-American relations.

The Carter Center in Atlanta, Ga., was founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter. In partnership with Emory University, the Center is committed to advancing human rights and alleviating unnecessary human suffering.
Dr. McConnell earned her bachelor's degree in economics and political science from Wellesley College and both her doctorate and her master's degree in political science from Stanford University.

Dr. McConnell's talk is sponsored by the Patrick Waide Fund, the College of Arts and Sciences, the Program in Latin American and Caribbean Studies and the Program in International Relations.

The program is free and open to the public.