Nicolette Mena is an International Program Specialist with the Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP) of the Department of Commerce Office of the General Counsel. Ms. Mena works on CLDP’s Southeast Europe and Caucasus programs, focusing on Georgia and Armenia.

Before joining CLDP, Ms. Mena volunteered as an English teacher in Bogotá, Colombia and studied in Vienna, Austria. Throughout her graduate studies Ms. Mena studied German, worked for the Organization for Security Co-operation in Europe working with the Extra-Budgetary Contributions Unit part of the Department of Management and Finance. She also interned at the Bruno Kreisky Forum for International Dialog.

Upon completing her graduate program, Ms. Mena joined the Peace Corps as an Individual and Organizational Development Volunteer serving in Georgia. Ms. Mena spent the majority of her service working to build the capacity of small and medium-sized NGOs in the eastern province of Kakheti. She worked alongside her Georgian counterparts to develop and execute workshops and trainings on grant writing, budget management, and project design and management. Secondary to her work in organizational capacity building, Ms. Mena dedicated herself to working with American Corner Telavi to develop and lead community programs dedicated to women’s empowerment, world history and current events.

Ms. Mena graduated cum laude from California State University Fullerton with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a focus in Legal Studies and a minor in International Politics. She graduated summa cum laude from Webster University Vienna with a master’s degree in International Relations with a focus on Security Studies and Migration. Ms. Mena is fluent in Spanish and has a working knowledge of German and Georgian.