Keely Bakken

Keely Bakken is a Supervisory Policy Analyst at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. She focuses primarily on Central Asia, the Caucasus, Russia, and Turkey. Ms. Bakken has worked in the U.S. Department of State’s Office of International Religious Freedom, where she served as a Foreign Affairs Officer covering Russia, Eastern Europe, and the Caucasus, among other parts of Europe. Prior to joining the federal government, she was a Program Officer at American Councils for International Education and volunteered at Small Projects Istanbul, a Turkish NGO providing educational opportunities for refugees.

Ms. Bakken holds a Master of Arts in Central Eurasian Studies and a Master of Public Affairs from Indiana University, Bloomington, where she also received her Bachelor of Arts in International Studies and Spanish. She was the recipient of a Fulbright U.S. Student Award to Russia and a Boren Fellowship to Turkey, where her research focused on minority issues and identity, nationalism, and foreign policy.