The Andi Foundation

The Andi Foundation's mission is to help young women fulfill their education and career dreams. The fund provides financial assistance for college scholarships and access to internship opportunities in the fields of politics and media. 2015 recipient of the Andi Parhamovich Fellowship Maka Meshveliani pictured below. Maka Meshveliani, a senior prog... ram officer at NDI Georgia, is the 2015 Andi Parhamovich Fellow. She will use her time in NDI's Washington office to design a project to help women's rights advocates in Georgia sharpen communication tactics and strategies to mobilize public support around women's political empowerment. As Maka was growing up, her parents encouraged her to speak up and put forward her ideas and suggestions. She later came to understand, however, that not every young woman was raised with the same encouragement. So she's working to raise the political profile and create more opportunities for women in Georgia. Maka has been in the forefront of efforts to help civic organizations advance issues such as election reform and gender equality. She is a leader of the Women's Movement in Georgia, which was created in late 2014 and unites more than 500 women from all over the country. Maka has also been a key contributor to the Task Force on Women's Political Participation, established and facilitated by NDI, which unites all major local and international players working on women's political participation and has served as a platform for a high-level advocacy. The fellowship will enable her to contribute to the efficiency of both platforms upon her return to Georgia. Maka leads the civil society development component of NDI programs in Georgia, which focus on increasing the influence of civil society organizations on government decision making. As the main liaison on electoral programs at NDI Georgia (2007-2009, 2011-2013), Maka managed NDI's election observation program involving four domestic election monitoring organizations. She also took an active role in the workings of high-level NDI ...Read More