Eric Chenoweth was co-founder of IDEE and its original director from 1985 to 1987. He has been its co-director since 1994 overseeing publications and special programs. He is also a consultant for the Albert Shanker Institute and has worked on a variety of its projects, including as principal author of Democracy Web, an extracurricular resource that includes 12 chapters on basic principles of democracy and 36 country studies. He has written on human rights, democracy and Eastern Europe in a wide variety of English-language and foreign publications.