Erna Hrstic is an International Program Specialist with the Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP) where she works on portfolios in the Western Balkans and Caucuses. 

Before joining CLDP, Ms. Hrstic worked to promote accountable democratic leadership in the Western Balkans and abroad as a Program Associate at the International Republican Institute. During her time there, she supported three election observation exchanges to Kenya, Colombia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) in addition to several technical assistance programs in Kosovo and Bulgaria.

Ms. Hrstic received her BA in Peace, Justice, and Conflict Studies from DePaul University with a minor in Geography, where she was awarded the U.S. Department of Defense Boren Scholarship to study abroad in Sarajevo, BiH. She later returned to BiH to complete a Fulbright Research Fellowship at the University of Sarajevo, Faculty of Economics and Business. Ms. Hrstic’s research explored the intersection of peacebuilding and post-conflict economic reconstruction to determine the role of informal markets in developing social capital across ethnic lines. She speaks Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS).