Eurasia Foundation Welcomes Three New Trustees
Eurasia Foundation is happy to announce that three distinguished professionals have joined our board of trustees. Richard Conn, Tracey Jacobson, and Kent D. Logsdon bring a wealth of experience and expertise in international affairs to our organization.
In addition, Margot Ellis has assumed the role of the board’s vice chair.
Please join us in welcoming the new trustees.
Richard Conn is the Managing Partner of Eurasia Advisors, General Counsel for the Center for Inquiry, and Managing Partner of Innovate Partners, an emerging company private investment fund. Prior to founding Eurasia Advisors in 2003, Richard practiced international corporate law as an equity partner at Latham & Watkins. He founded the firm’s Moscow office in 1992 and served as a key advisor to the Presidential Administration of Russian President Boris Yeltsin. He also served as President of the Moscow-based Foreign Bar Association and has been a longstanding member of the Board of Directors of the U.S.-Russia Business Council and the International Crisis Group’s International Board of Advisors. Throughout his career, he has advised the World Bank, members of Congress, and U.S. administrations on Russia-related issues and co-chaired a joint initiative of the U.S.-Russia Business Council and the American Chamber of Commerce in Moscow to facilitate Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization.
The Honorable Tracey Ann Jacobson is a distinguished American diplomat and a retired career member of the U.S. Senior Foreign Service, who served for more than three decades with the U.S. Department of State. Throughout her career, Ambassador Jacobson held senior diplomatic and leadership positions across Europe, Asia, Africa, and Washington, D.C., advancing U.S. foreign policy, international cooperation, and global security initiatives. Ambassador Jacobson’s overseas leadership experience includes serving as U.S. Ambassador to Turkmenistan (2003–06), U.S. Ambassador to Tajikistan (2006–09), and U.S. Ambassador to Kosovo (2012–15). She also served as Chargé d’Affaires, ad interim, at the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (2022–23), and as Chargé d’Affaires, ad interim, at the U.S. Embassy in Dhaka, Bangladesh (2025). Earlier in her career, she served in Seoul, Moscow, Nassau, and Riga.
The Honorable Kent D. Logsdon is a career diplomat, foreign policy expert, and senior leader who served for more than three decades in the U.S. Foreign Service. Ambassador Logsdon has supported U.S. diplomatic engagement across Europe and Eurasia through senior leadership roles at the Department of State and overseas assignments in Europe, Central Asia, and Southeast Asia. Ambassador Logsdon most recently served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Global Talent Management Bureau from June 2024 to April 2025. Prior to that, he served as the United States Ambassador to the Republic of Moldova from 2021 to 2024. His previous Washington assignments include Chief of Staff to the Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment; Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Energy Resources; Executive Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources; Deputy Executive Secretary of the Department of State; Director of the Operations Center; and Director of the Office of Russian Affairs.