Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Skills
Accomplishments
Certification
LNGG
Affiliations
Timeline
Generic

MARIAM GAMDLISHVILI

Tbilisi,TB

Summary

Bringing 13 years of professional experience in international relations, I specialize in governance, foreign affairs, strategic communications, EU/NATO-Georgia relations alongside with a vast experience/expertise in campaign planning, advocacy, and outreach. Strong knowledge of international relations, Georgia’s European & Euro-Atlantic integration. Multidisciplinary academic training in international relations, communications, European Union studies. An efficient, organized, and responsible person with experience of working in public, non-profit, and research industries within the scope of Georgia’s European & Euro-Atlantic integration, Strategic Communications, Foreign Affairs, Public Diplomacy, Project Management, and Public Policy. Demonstrated history of success in diplomacy, program/grants management, non-profit administration, policy planning and research industries. Proven experience in designing and supporting programs on women’s economic empowerment, digital inclusion, and strategic communications in Georgia and regionally. Strong background in working with SMEs and civil society on advocacy, policy, and capacity building initiatives. Highly skilled in building partnerships, project development and implementation; mentoring; content creation; editing; and research. Professional with a demonstrated academic research interest and experience in the fields of communication studies, disinformation, global/political and international communications, public diplomacy, focusing on Eastern Europe, South Caucasus, and Russia. Lecturer and speaker in the fields of diplomacy, communication studies and strategic communications.

Overview

11
11
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification

Work History

Invited Lecturer, Faculty of Law, Social Sciences and Diplomacy (part-time)

Georgian American University (GAU)
02.2025 - Current
  • Invited Lecturer of BSc level Diplomatic Law & Protocol Course

Invited Lecturer, Faculty of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences (part-time)

European University (EU)
03.2024 - Current
  • Invited Lecturer of BSc level Public Policy Course

Invited Lecturer, Caucasus School of Media (part-time)

Caucasus University (CU)
09.2023 - Current
  • Invited Lecturer of BSc and MA level Information Operations and Strategic Communications Course
  • Invited Lecturer of BSc level Applied PR: Communications in International and Non-Governmental Organizations

Diplomatic Service Reserve

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, Tbilisi, Georgia
05.2021 - Current

Senior Specialist, International Relations Division, International Relations, Strategic Planning & Coordination Department

Administration of the Government of Georgia, Tbilisi, Georgia
10.2021 - Current
  • Coordinates foreign affairs efforts of the Government of Georgia. Conducts analysis of international processes and foreign affairs related issues in cooperation with relevant state agencies. Based on the relations developed with counterpart states and international organizations with the aim of policy planning and deepening cooperation elaborates concepts, proposals, and recommendations for senior management, including Head of the Administration and Prime Minister of Georgia. Analyses Georgia’s strategic foreign narrative develops strategic communication related content and analytics. Evaluates and analyses impact of internal factors and policies on foreign image and affairs. Coordinates government’s foreign affairs efforts with the line ministries and relevant state agencies. Takes part in overall policy planning, including acceleration of Georgia’s European and Euro-Atlantic integration process, bilateral relations, and regional cooperation.
  • To ensure effective implementation of Georgia’s foreign policy priorities participates in negotiations with representatives of partner states and international organizations. Ensures and posits Georgia’s correct and consistent image on the international fora. Serves as a main point of contact for the strategic and global partnerships, including Bloomberg, Brand Finance, and financial hub project partnership with Rothschilds & Co, Kaiser Partner/Conduct AG with the aim of facilitation of over $100 million FDI inflow into the country. Elaborates and authors concepts, analytical documents, policy papers, strategies. Participates and organizes international and regional conferences, forums. Collects and conducts analysis of data on foreign aid and lobby.
  • Led coordination with strategic partners on initiatives supporting digital transformation and investment, including engagement with 80 Acres Farms.
  • Actively manages, elaborates, and authors official panel statements, speeches, talking points for the official bilateral visits of the Prime Minister and Head of the Administration, including high-level conferences, events, and summits (Munich Security Conference, GLOBSEC, European Political Community, World Economic Forum (Davos), World Governments Summit, Silk Road Forum, Qatar Economic Forum, COP26, ADB Annual Meeting, United Nations General Assembly, NATO, and EU Summits/high-level meetings). Copywriting for official social media channels.

National Consultant on Communications and Advocacy in the field of Women’s Economic Empowerment (part-time)

UN Women, Tbilisi, Georgia
04.2023 - 07.2023
  • Facilitated the participatory design and lead the drafting of a comprehensive WEEC communications and advocacy strategy for the Women Economic Empowerment in South Caucasus (WEESC) project and contributed to the development of communications outputs, including but not limited to social media and online content, videos, events, and press campaigns. The WEESC project covers Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan.
  • Supported digital advocacy strategies for WE in Georgia and Armenia. Contributed to advancing digital inclusion messaging for women entrepreneurs.
  • Engaged with media, civil society, and advocacy actors in relation to the tasks outlined above, as well as provides technical support on audience testing and campaign impact assessment; provides review and feedback to UN Women on its WEESC communications outputs; participated in UN Women events in project locations; provided monthly reports on assigned tasks.

Consultant/Grants Analyst, Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture (CNFA) (part-time)

USAID Agriculture Program, Tbilisi, Georgia
12.2021 - 04.2022
  • Under the direct supervision of the Investment Director, served as a junior-level consultant and was responsible for collecting, analyzing, and reporting business-relevant analytics, background narrative and other critical data of the investment portfolio.
  • Established close collaboration with key management and business partners and program’s regional managers. Worked closely with the agribusiness applicants and USAID staff members to develop CNFA proposal timelines.

U.S. Miskite Fellow/Graduate Research Fellow, Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication, School of Media & Public Affairs, Elliott School of International Affairs

George Washington University, Washington D.C., USA
05.2021 - 09.2021
  • Supported Hubert Humphrey Leadership Program Coordinator in arrangement of the executive course in GWU. Managed U.S. Department of State funded grant/project. Collaborated and researched the content of the Misinformation and Disinformation Executive Leadership Course for the journalists and civil society representatives from Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Designed and developed executive level academic course and curriculum on disinformation.
  • Coordinated the liaising and communication with the partner organization, Institute of International Education, Inc. in planning and implementing the program. Planned, monitored activities, and researched for the program. Collaborated and maintained the databases, reports, budget, and relevant documentations related to the program and grant. Worked on the concept for awareness raising and visibility of the program on social media.

Consultant, Digital Forensics Research Lab (DFRLab), Young Global Professionals Program

Atlantic Council U.S., Washington D.C., USA
06.2020 - 08.2020
  • Collaborated daily with DFRLab’s management, events, and editorial teams based in Washington DC, as well as the global research team across the world.
  • Supported DFRLab’s Digital Research Unit (DRU) Caucasus based in Tbilisi with monitoring of the Georgian information environment ahead of the political elections scheduled in October 2020. Delivered research on the Georgian pre-election landscape for the long-form Georgia Election Report 2020. Conducted open-source research both in collaboration with the DRU and independently on disinformation targeting Georgia. Received extensive training on OSINT by DFRLab’s global research experts and editorial team. Engaged with the events and management team on the organization of DFRLab’s global research summit, 360/Open Forum, roundtables, panel discussions focused on Georgian elections.
  • Researched and wrote for the “Fighting for the hearts and minds of Sakartvelo. The Georgian information environment during the 2020 parliamentary election” report.

Third Secretary, NATO Integration Department

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, Tbilisi, Georgia
10.2018 - 08.2019
  • Collaborated with relevant state institutions and attended Annual National Program (ANP) and ANP Self-Assessment Documents. Coordinated with government agencies involved in the elaboration and implementation of the ANP and collaborated with NATO Liaison Office; organized Annual International Expert’s Workshop for review of Annual National Program of Georgia. Coordinated meetings on different levels within the NATO-Georgia Commission.
  • Authored relevant correspondence and documentation: minutes of the meetings, talking points; protocols, reports, presentations and discussions on NATO for the Department and Ministry. Briefed on developments of the Georgia’s NATO integration and NATO-Georgia cooperation relevant agencies and departments within the Ministry. Researched and wrote non-papers, policy papers in the context of NATO-Georgia relations; analyzed Annual Reports of the Alliance Summits, Foreign Ministers’ Decisions, NATO Secretary General’s reports.

Program Officer, Government of Georgia Strategic Communications Program

Center for Strategy and Development (CSD), Tbilisi, Georgia
01.2018 - 09.2018
  • Managed, authored, and maintained records, documents, work plans, major reports for the monitoring and evaluation of the project implementation. Managed and monitored program’s budget, records, and reports in line with U.S. Government requirements for grant management. Developed the strategic communications course and training work for the government communicators. Established partnerships with international speakers and trainers for the program.
  • Collaborated and maintained close working relationships and dialogue with Georgian counterparts and the US Embassy. Authored relevant correspondence and documentation, meeting agendas, talking points, speeches, and minutes. Researched and analyzed in the scope of strategic communications capacity building of the Government of Georgia. Managed and monitored a U.S. Government-funded program focused on strategic communications and awareness for public servants.
  • Monitored and evaluated implementation of the Communication Strategy of the Government of Georgia for EU-NATO Membership. Managed GCSD’s media activities, social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X) content related to the program outreach and visibility.

Senior Specialist, Strategic Communications Department

Office of the State Minister of Georgia on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Tbilisi, Georgia (abolished, merged with MFA of Georgia since 2018)
10.2014 - 01.2018
  • Authored and developed correspondences, talking points and speeches to the Minister and Deputies on strategic communications and Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic integration process. Coordinated and implemented the internal public opinion survey of the attitudes of Georgian population towards EU and NATO. Collaborated on planning of the EU-Georgia visa-free campaign and drafting of the 2017-2020 Communications Strategy for Georgia’s EU and NATO Membership. Monitored Russian media and social media disinformation campaigns and produced relevant reporting.
  • Supervised awareness rising campaigns (EU visa-free), events, study visits to EU and NATO and campaigns for local government municipalities, clergy, students, and other stakeholders. Collaborated and partnered as key communicator on behalf of the Office with the international organizations, donors, non-profits, stakeholders, sponsors, and Embassies for high-level events. Ensured organization of the high-level 12th, 13th, 14th, 16th Batumi International Conference “Georgia’s European Way”; NATO-Georgia Public Diplomacy Forum 2016, 2017; NATO North-Atlantic Council (NAC) Visit, 2016, 2018. In cooperation with IDEN attracted sponsorship and fundraising for the Batumi International Conference’s budget with companies such as Medtronics, HP, AGL and Turkish Airlines. Worked on Conference and events’ communication & outreach, including social media (Facebook, Twitter/X).

Education

Master of Arts - Strategic Communications

King’s College London
12.2023

Master of Arts - Liberal Arts College, Department of Communications

University of Southern Indiana
Evansville, IN
05.2021

Master of Arts - Policy Officer in EU and International Organizations

CIFE European Institute
07.2017

Bachelor of Science - International Relations

American University for Humanities
07.2014

Skills

  • Team leadership
  • Strategic analysis
  • Data analysis and research
  • Strong resilience under pressure
  • Digital literacy
  • Effective communication and networking
  • Effective time management
  • Capacity to work remotely and in different time zones
  • Languages: Georgian, Russian – bilingual/native proficiency; English (C1 – full working/advanced proficiency); French (A1 – elementary)
  • IT: Proficiency in Microsoft Office; MAC Pages suite; OS Windows; OS MAC; videoconferencing and business communication tools (Zoom; Skype; WebEx; GoToMeeting; Slack; Salesforce; Microsoft Teams); basic knowledge of HTML/Web-Design; Good command of quantitative research survey software Qualtrics and SPSS; Good command of Canva graphic design; Good command of photo editing software Adobe Photoshop gained as an amateur photographer; Knowledge and experience in working with marketing, media, social media monitoring, branding tools (CrowdTangle, Buzzsumo, Sysomos and Meltwater)
  • Academic writing
  • Academic research
  • Research and analysis

Accomplishments

UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Scholarship 12/2021 – 09/2023

Outstanding International Graduate Award, USI 06/05/2021

Edmund S. Muskie Professional Fellowship Program Grantee 05/2021 – 08/2021

Fulbright Foreign Student Program Grantee 08/2019 – 05/2021

USI Global Ambassador Scholarship 08/2019 – 05/2021

CIFE MA Degree in EU Studies annual 80% tuition fee reduction 10/2015 – 07/2017

Certification

  • UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Scholarship 12/2021 – 09/2023
  • Outstanding International Graduate Award, USI 06/05/2021
  • Edmund S. Muskie Professional Fellowship Program Grantee 05/2021 – 08/2021
  • Fulbright Foreign Student Program Grantee 08/2019 – 05/2021
  • USI Global Ambassador Scholarship 08/2019 – 05/2021
  • CIFE MA Degree in EU Studies annual 80% tuition fee reduction 10/2015 – 07/2017

LNGG

Languages: Georgian, Russian – bilingual/native proficiency; English (C1 – full working/advanced proficiency); French (A1 – elementary).

Affiliations

  • Member, Council for European Studies, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA (03/2025 - present)
  • Member and mentor, US Government Exchange Program Alumni Association of Georgia (EPAG), Tbilisi (01/2022 - present)
  • Volunteer Blood Donor, Volunteer Blood Donors, Tbilisi, Georgia (12/2021 - present)
  • Founding Member, USI International Alumni Advisory Council, Evansville, IN, USA (09/2021 - present)
  • Member, USI Graduate Student Professional Network, Evansville, IN, USA (11/2019 - 05/2021)
  • Volunteer, USI International Community Service, Evansville, IN, USA (10/2019 - 05/2020)

Timeline

Invited Lecturer, Faculty of Law, Social Sciences and Diplomacy (part-time)

Georgian American University (GAU)
02.2025 - Current

Invited Lecturer, Faculty of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences (part-time)

European University (EU)
03.2024 - Current

Invited Lecturer, Caucasus School of Media (part-time)

Caucasus University (CU)
09.2023 - Current

National Consultant on Communications and Advocacy in the field of Women’s Economic Empowerment (part-time)

UN Women, Tbilisi, Georgia
04.2023 - 07.2023

Consultant/Grants Analyst, Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture (CNFA) (part-time)

USAID Agriculture Program, Tbilisi, Georgia
12.2021 - 04.2022

Senior Specialist, International Relations Division, International Relations, Strategic Planning & Coordination Department

Administration of the Government of Georgia, Tbilisi, Georgia
10.2021 - Current

Diplomatic Service Reserve

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, Tbilisi, Georgia
05.2021 - Current

U.S. Miskite Fellow/Graduate Research Fellow, Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication, School of Media & Public Affairs, Elliott School of International Affairs

George Washington University, Washington D.C., USA
05.2021 - 09.2021

Consultant, Digital Forensics Research Lab (DFRLab), Young Global Professionals Program

Atlantic Council U.S., Washington D.C., USA
06.2020 - 08.2020

Third Secretary, NATO Integration Department

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, Tbilisi, Georgia
10.2018 - 08.2019

Program Officer, Government of Georgia Strategic Communications Program

Center for Strategy and Development (CSD), Tbilisi, Georgia
01.2018 - 09.2018

Senior Specialist, Strategic Communications Department

Office of the State Minister of Georgia on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Tbilisi, Georgia (abolished, merged with MFA of Georgia since 2018)
10.2014 - 01.2018

Master of Arts - Liberal Arts College, Department of Communications

University of Southern Indiana

Master of Arts - Policy Officer in EU and International Organizations

CIFE European Institute

Bachelor of Science - International Relations

American University for Humanities

Master of Arts - Strategic Communications

King’s College London

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