ARLINGTON, VA, January 23, 2026 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Virginia Atkinson has been selected for inclusion in Marquis Who's Who. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.

Demonstrating more than two decades of dedicated service and innovation, Ms. Atkinson has established herself as a leading expert on inclusion of marginalized groups within the international democracy and human rights sector. Her career at the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) spans 15 years, during which she has held a series of progressively responsible roles that have shaped both her organization and the broader field.

Since 2019, Ms. Atkinson has served as a senior global inclusion advisor at IFES, where she leads the objective of the organization's strategic plan focused on building inclusive societies and supporting all people to safely participate in civic life on an equal basis. In this capacity, she has been pivotal in creating and maintaining internal communities of practice on inclusion, developing standardized tools and approaches for inclusive democracy and writing proposals and securing funding for inclusion-related work. Also providing essential technical assistance and training to country offices and partner organizations, she reviews laws and provides input on international standards from an inclusion perspective, mentors her staff on human rights and advocates for budgeting that prioritizes accessibility and inclusion.

To date, Ms. Atkinson's most notable achievement in this role has been her leadership in undertaking comprehensive inclusive democracy reform. Her efforts have positioned IFES as an institutional leader in this area, prompting the wider field of international democracy and human rights to improve their approaches to inclusion. She also established the organization's first internal community of practice on inclusion, enabling the cross-regional sharing of lessons learned as well as best practices. Ms. Atkinson advanced the standardization of inclusive practices across projects globally, ensuring that rights-based approaches were integrated into all aspects of the organization's work.

Within one year of initiating proposals for this work, Ms. Atkinson secured sufficient funding to create a new position in the organization dedicated technical work on inclusion — a focus she has maintained for over a decade. She emphasizes that these accomplishments are the result of teamwork and partnerships with colleagues in various country offices, local civil society organizations and government partners as well as the mentorship of Judy Heumann and Chad Vickery, who supported her to create this new position within the organization and later expand it into a team.

During her time at IFES in various inclusion focused roles, she has worked in over 30 countries in every region of the world. Ms. Atkinson has supported the technical and operational capacity of civil society, media, and government partners in a variety of contexts, such as youth groups in the Dominican Republic, disability rights organizations in Nepal, gender organizations in Lebanon, election officials in Ukraine, journalists in Indonesia, and election observers in Kenya. Ms. Atkinson has supported implementation of legal and policy reform at local, national, regional, and international levels and the alignment of domestic legislation with United Nations conventions and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Ms. Atkinson has led the development of innovative tools and resources that have since become industry standard for inclusive democracy programming, such as "Developing a Disability Inclusion Policy: A Strategic Planning and Implementation Guide for Election Management Bodies" and an "Election Access Observation Toolkit." Her work has been published in academic journals and news outlets including the Nordic Journal of Human Rights, Journal of Youth Development, the Resolution Journal from the Jersey Law Commission, and EuroNews.

She frequently conducts speaking engagements, including remarks on C-SPAN, at the United Nations in New York City and Vienna, and on Capitol Hill. She was a professional fellow with the U.S. Department of State in Armenia, served as faculty at the National University Ireland, Galway, International Disability Law Summer School, and has guest lectured at numerous universities.

Prior to joining IFES in 2010, Ms. Atkinson worked at Landmine Survivor's Network (later Survivor Corps) from 2008 to 2010. There, she supported fundraising and advocacy efforts for programs serving individuals affected by conflict.

Earlier in her journey, Ms. Atkinson served as an analyst at CIBT from 2005 to 2006, where she developed analytical skills in immigration solutions that would later inform her approach to program evaluation and policy review.

Alongside her work in integrating disability rights and inclusion in international democracy and human rights, Ms. Atkinson continues to impact her field, including as an adviser to the General Election Network for Disability Access in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a member of the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe's Expert Group on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and a Board member of the Ukrainian NGO Fight for Right.

Hailing from an equally accomplished academic background, Ms. Atkinson earned a Master of Arts in international studies with merit from University of Reading, England, in 2007, which provided her with a global perspective that proved essential for her later work in international development. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts in English cum laude from University of Mary Washington, completed in 2003.

Reflecting on her journey thus far, Ms. Atkinson attributes much of her success to the influence and support of her parents. Her father's lifelong commitment to protecting the planet at the Environmental Protection Agency and her mother's leadership as chief officer of their local election precinct instilled in her the values of civic engagement from an early age. Her own experiences of working polls during her high school and college years further deepened her interest in elections and preserving democracy.

A transformative period of living and working in Ireland — where she acquired a disability — sparked her commitment to disability rights after she encountered severe accessibility challenges abroad without family support. This personal experience coincided with global discussions around the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities during her master's coursework, which led her to recognize the critical intersection between international development and disability rights.

Ms. Atkinson's outstanding contributions have been widely recognized through numerous accolades over the years. She was selected for the inaugural Forbes Accessibility 100 List by Forbes in 2025 and received the Outstanding Young Alumni Award from the University of Mary Washington in 2017. Additionally, IFES was presented with the Innovative Practice Award by the Zero Project in 2015, 2019 and 2023 as well as the International Disability Inclusion Award from InterAction in 2011 for initiatives that Ms. Atkinson led.

Looking toward the future, Ms. Atkinson is focused on restoring momentum within the international democracy and human rights community amid shifting global priorities, emphasizing both the intrinsic value of inclusive principles and their benefits to global peace and security. Her life and career stand as a testament to visionary leadership, partnership-driven progress and unwavering advocacy for greater inclusivity within global democratic systems.

About Marquis Who's Who®:
Since 1899, when A. N. Marquis printed the First Edition of Who's Who in America®, Marquis Who's Who® has chronicled the lives of the most accomplished individuals and innovators from every significant field of endeavor, including politics, business, medicine, law, education, art, religion and entertainment. Who's Who in America® remains an essential biographical source for thousands of researchers, journalists, librarians and executive search firms around the world. The suite of Marquis® publications can be viewed at the official Marquis Who's Who® website, www.marquiswhoswho.com.

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