Lisa Reppell is the global social media and disinformation specialist at the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), where she coordinates and leads IFES’ portfolio of work on information integrity and counter disinformation. In this role she shapes IFES research, program design and the provision of direct technical assistance to field programs. Reppell also coordinates IFES’ involvement in the Design 4 Democracy Coalition.
Since joining IFES in 2017, Reppell has contributed to a variety of technical assistance and research initiatives in partnership with election commissions, tribunals, courts, government interlocutors, civil society and the private sector. She has authored or co-authored publications including Disinformation Campaigns and Hate Speech: Exploring the Relationship and Programming Interventions, Raising Their Voices: How effective are pro-youth laws and policies and Elections on Trial: The Effective Management of Election Disputes and Violations, in addition to multiple IFES electoral assessments in countries including Ukraine, Afghanistan and Sint Maarten.
Prior to joining IFES, Reppell was a grantee of the Open Society Foundations at the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria, South Africa, and the lead author of Planning for Peace: lessons from Mozambique’s peacebuilding process. She was a consultant researcher, social media strategist and facilitator based in Istanbul, Turkey, from 2012-16, where she maintained a diverse portfolio of projects on topics including democratic governance, political extremism and women’s professional development.
Reppell holds a master’s degree in political science from Sabanci University in Istanbul and a bachelor’s degree in comparative religion, fine arts and gender studies from Washington and Lee University.