ATEM FOUNDATION - Key Persons

Founder
Leader
Member of the AF Board
President
Contributor to the Washington
International Democracy and Elections Expert / Executive Director, United States International Center for Electoral Support / Founder and President
Specialist

Henry Atem is a spirited leader, a democracy and elections specialist, and a devoted humanitarian with 15 years of experience working with international organizations across multiple countries and regions worldwide. Born in the Cameroon's port city of Tiko, Henry's altruism is influenced by his first-hand experience of the many difficulties, conflicts, and pain his home nation is currently experiencing. Beginning his career in local politics at the young age of 19, Henry first served as Municipal Councilor of Tiko, helping to shape local governance, and worked to encourage the participation of his home city's youth in local development and grassroots politics. Throughout his professional and spiritual growth, Henry has witnessed the suffering of thousands of children and women worldwide, fostering inside him an intense commitment to embrace his gifts as a communicator and leader to fervently serve the international public good. In his travels across the globe, mostly in-conflict or post-conflict countries such as Afghanistan, the Ivory Coast, Papua New Guinea, South Sudan, Haiti, Libya, and Iraq, Henry's desire to help the vulnerable has only been emboldened further, and his passion for God and international service has only deepened. When an armed conflict erupted in his home country of the Cameroons, leaving thousands dead and millions of civilians afflicted, Henry established the Atem Foundation to further his humanitarian efforts, advocate for the rights of women and children, and provide greater access to aid, education, empowerment, and research to improve the international humanitarian response. He has devoted his humanitarian service to all citizens across the African continent suffering from conflicts, including to those displaced by disasters and pandemics. He believes the only way to address displacement is to tackle the underlying causes of conflicts. While ensuring aid is accessible to displaced people to address their urgent needs, he has engaged in seeking avenues to a political solution to the conflict affecting his home country. In his words "As international citizens, we see how children, women, disabled people suffer to survive when displaced because of conflicts or disasters. We must do all in our power to leverage our experiences and networks to advocate and seek ways to show love. That is what God expect from us." Inspired by Henry, all team members of the Atem Foundation are committed to promoting his values and mission. Henry Atem is a democracy and elections specialist, spiritual leader, and the founder and president of the Atem Foundation. Henry has served in the democracy and elections field for over 15 years and currently serves as the Executive Director of the United States Center for Electoral Support (USICES) and consultant on election assistance services to developing democracies, fragile states, and countries in conflict or post-conflict environments. Henry has previously served in the Elections Management Body in Cameroon as head of operations and as an electoral adviser within multiple intergovernmental and international non-governmental organizations, including the African Union, the United Nations, the United Nations Development Program, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, and the Carter Center. During his career, Henry has participated in over 15 international elections observation missions in Ghana, the Ivory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria, Tunisia, Afghanistan, Egypt, Libya, Mexico, Brazil, Romania, and Papua New Guinea, where he worked to assess election conduct and provide consultation and recommendations for improvement. He is an active member of the ACE Electoral Knowledge and Practitioners Network, where he shares his expertise with junior and aspiring election professionals, laying the groundwork for the next generation of election integrity experts and professionals. Henry is a contributor to the Washington based Electoral Violence Prediction Market, an initiative of the U.S. State Department's Bureau for Conflict Stabilization Operations tasked with assessing and monitoring electoral violence early warning sign systems across the globe. As an author and expert, he has written and contributed to election conduct publications such as Assessment of Electoral Violence in Africa, Road Map to Credible Elections in Algeria, and Fake News and Disinformation: An Election Integrity Issue. As an international BRIDGE trainer, Henry has facilitated multiple training programs for election officials across the globe. Henry holds a graduate degree in elections administration from the University of Minnesota; a master's in electoral policy and administration from the School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy, a master's degree in democracy and governance from Georgetown University, an MBA from Southern New Hampshire University, and is a current Ph.D. candidate on public policy and administration at Walden University, USA.