Lara Flint is the Managing Director of Elections and Institutions at Democracy Fund, an independent foundation working to ensure that our political system is able to withstand new challenges and deliver on its promise to the American people. Lara oversees Democracy Fund’s Elections and Governance programs, playing a key role in organization-wide strategy, grantmaking, and management.
Lara is a skilled advocate with more than 20 years of legal, public policy and government experience, including a decade on Capitol Hill. Before coming to Democracy Fund’s Governance Program in 2017, she served as chief counsel for national security to then-Chairman Patrick Leahy of the Senate Judiciary Committee, where she led the committee’s work on national security, privacy, and technology. Previously, Lara served as senior counsel on the Judiciary Committee to Senator Russ Feingold.
Between her Senate positions, Lara joined the State Department Office of the Legal Adviser, where she advised senior State Department officials on cutting-edge counterterrorism, law of war, and use of force issues. Prior to her government service, Lara worked on policy at the intersection of technology and national security at the Center for Democracy & Technology. She also conducted a broad range of litigation at the law firm of Jenner & Block.
Lara is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, and Harvard Law School.