Mr. Gershman is president of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a private, congressionally supported grant-making institution with the mission to strengthen democratic institutions around the world through nongovernmental efforts. In addition to presiding over the Endowment`s grants program in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union and Latin America, he has overseen the creation of the quarterly Journal of Democracy, International Forum for Democratic Studies, the Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellows Program, and the Center for International Media Assistance. He also took the lead in launching in New Delhi in 1999 the World Movement for Democracy, which is a global network of democracy practitioners and scholars. Currently, Mr. Gershman is overseeing the response of NED and its related institutes to the revolutionary changes in the Middle East and also helping to mobilize support for activists working for greater freedom in authoritarian countries.