MEPI Regional Offices
To better promote democratic reform objectives in the region by working directly with local partners on the ground, MEPI opened Regional Offices (ROs) in Tunis and Abu Dhabi in the summer of 2004. MEPI is a U.S. policy initiative and, as such, the ROs serve as liaisons between MEPI’s central office in Washington, DC, and the U.S. Embassies located in the region, as well as working directly with MEPI’s partners, program participants, and other reformers at the civil society or “grassroots” level.
The Tunis RO administers MEPI local grants in Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, and West Bank/Gaza. Please visit the Tunis Regional Office online at http://www.medregion.mepi.state.gov/.
The Abu Dhabi RO administers MEPI local grants in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Please visit the Abu Dhabi Regional Office online at http://www.abudhabi.mepi.state.gov/.
In addition to coordinating with the U.S. Embassies throughout the region, the ROs organize conferences, facilitate exchange programs, and provide a variety of funding opportunities, as well as supporting visits, seminars, and training programs designed to advance reform.
Director of the Tunis Regional Office W. Johann Schmonsees
W. Johann Schmonsees is the Director of the Tunis Regional Office. Johann lived in Tunis once before, as an Arabic student at the Foreign Service Institute Arabic Field School. Johann has been a career Foreign Service Officer with the State Department since 1992. In his Economics specialization, he has served as the sole Economic Officer at the US Embassy in Bern, Switzerland, and headed up the Economic and Commercial Section in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. He also served as Political-Economic Counselor at the US Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon. In other Foreign Service assignments, Johann has worked on North Korea's nuclear program and on security assistance for Taiwan, and was Vice-Consul in Georgetown, Guyana. In his last assignment, Johann was Chief of the Press Office at the US Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq.
Born in the port city of Charleston, South Carolina, on the southeast coast of the United States, Johann received his Bachelor's in International Studies from the University of South Carolina following study abroad programs in England and France. He earned a Master's in International Business Studies from the same university via study and internship programs in France and Germany.
Director of the Abu Dhabi Regional Office Ralph Falzone
Ralph Falzone has been the Director of the MEPI Regional Office in Abu Dhabi since August 2008. He is a Foreign Service Officer specialized in political affairs. Prior to Abu Dhabi, Ralph served as a consular and political officer at the U.S. Embassy in Manila; as a public affairs officer in Milan; and more recently, as a political officer in Hanoi, where he encumbered the busy human rights portfolio. Prior to joining the State Department in 2002, Ralph spent 13 years in the private sector where he worked in federal program management, management consulting, marketing and public relations. He holds an M.S. in International Relations from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and a B.A. in Political Science from Columbia University. He speaks French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese at various levels of competency.
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