Tim Fairbank is currently a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and an adjunct at the RAND Corporation. From 2008 to 2016, Fairbank was the co-founder and managing director of Development Transformations (DT), where he oversaw and managed the organization’s governance, civil society, analytical research, and political transition programs throughout the Middle East, North Africa, Eurasia, Asia, and Africa. Fairbank established and directed DT’s offices in Yemen during this period and secured funding from US and European donors to conduct political analysis, civil society development, and governance support throughout Yemen.

Prior to co-founding DT, Fairbank spent nearly a decade at the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) where he worked to support civil society development, capacity building, democratic elections, political parties, parliaments, and civil service training in countries in transition. His private sector background includes working for MPRI (Engility), where he was named their first director for democracy and rule of law.

Fairbank was an adjunct professor at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, where he taught a graduate course on political transitions. He also spent two years as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Maryland’s Department of Government and Politics. Fairbank earned his Master’s degree, with distinction, from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.