Ileana Marin serves as program officer for Democracy around the Globe, where she leads the CFK Global Fellows program—an initiative that fosters global collaboration, learning, and solidarity among international democratic thought leaders and a broader community of partners. The fellowship recognizes and amplifies the work of global democratic leaders and scholars, strengthens cross-regional connections, and builds a network committed to inclusive, multiracial, multiethnic, gender-affirming, and equitable democracies. Marin also helps shape the foundation’s international strategy by developing initiatives that track democratic trends, surface emerging threats, and support collective responses. 

Since joining the Kettering Foundation in 1997, Marin has advanced programs with national and international reach, coordinated fellowships, and facilitated community-engaged scholarship. Her research has explored theories of leadership, environmental studies, and democratic practice, and has included partnerships with Cuba’s Antonio Núñez Jiménez Foundation for Nature and Humanity and the Arab Network for the Study of Democracy. 

She previously served as director and program officer for Romania-based initiatives on sustainable development and child welfare at World Learning for International Development. 

Marin holds an MA in Romanian and Hungarian linguistics and literatures from the University of Bucharest, Romania, and Janus Pannonius University, Pécs, Hungary; an MA in ethnic and minority studies from the ELTE Institute of Sociology, Budapest, Hungary; and an MA in human and organizational systems from Fielding Graduate University, Santa Barbara, CA, where she is an ABD in human and organizational development. She has published articles and books in Romanian, English, and Spanish.