Craig Castagna

Program Director, Mongolia

Craig Castagna serves as IRI’s Resident Program Director in Ulaanbaatar. He has more than ten years’ experience in democracy & governance, community development, and citizen empowerment initiatives in Mongolia.

From 2012 to 2018, Craig worked at IRI’s headquarters in Washington, DC, where he designed innovative technical programs that produced high impact results across a variety of political and civil sectors, including the USAID-funded Leaders Advancing Democracy (LEAD) program, which supported the next generation of democracy champions, ages 25 – 40, to revive civic engagement and serve as young change agents in their communities. Craig helped spearhead the Youth Voices Summit in 2019, which convened over a thousand youth from across Mongolia to engage on policy issues such as urban governance, environmental protection, and anti-corruption. He also manages USAID’s CEPPS-funded SWYEEPPM (Strengthening Women and Youth Engagement in the Electoral and Political Processes in Mongolia) program. From 2007-2008, Craig worked as a supervisor at the Educational Advising & Resource Center (EARC NGO) in Ulaanbaatar. He served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mongolia from 2005-2007. Craig is an Eagle Scout and holds a Bachelor of Arts from Quinnipiac University and Master of Public Administration from the University of Maine.