Our Team
Democracy Defenders Action (DDA) is led and staffed by a strongly bipartisan board and experts who have spent their careers fighting autocracy—and winning—in the United States and globally.
Norm Eisen
Co-Founder and Board Member
Ambassador (ret.) Norman Eisen is the founder and executive chair of Democracy Defenders Action, which has been helping lead the successful national court fights against the Trump Administration, helping secure multiple landmark orders against its authoritarian moves. His work in the courts of law is matched by his efforts in the court of public opinion as the co-founder and publisher of The Contrarian. He is also the co-founder and former chair of other major non-profits including CREW and States United.
Susan Corke
Executive Director
Susan Corke is DDA's and DDF's Executive Director. For two decades, she has served in senior pro-democracy leadership roles at the Southern Poverty Law Center, German Marshall Fund of the U.S., Freedom House, Human Rights First and the U.S. Department of State. She has testified and spoken at major international and political forums, including testifying on Capitol Hill several times on human rights and democracy issues, at the United Nations, European Union and other official conferences. She has been a regular commentator in American and European broadcast, print, radio and digital media, a lecturer at leading universities, a co-author of The Democracy Playbook and a Webby-nominated podcaster, writer and an editor for numerous research and policy reports that drove democratic progress. She serves on boards for William & Mary and other nonprofits.
Tianna Mays
Legal Director
Tianna Mays is a seasoned litigator with extensive experience in litigation, policy, and advocacy, including a distinguished tenure as a public defender, where she passionately defended the rights of marginalized communities and upheld the principles of justice and fairness.
Gabe Lezra
Director of Policy Planning and Advocacy
Gabe is the Policy and Advocacy Director at Democracy Defenders Action. Gabe has nearly a decade of experience fighting for democracy, including at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW)–where he served as the Federal Policy Manager and Senior Counsel–the American Association for Justice, and Debevoise and Plimpton LLP. Gabe regularly advises members of Congress and Executive branch policymakers on democracy policy, and topics related to Congressional, judicial, and executive branch ethics, and matters of accountability and institutional legitimacy–and he has been recognized as a leading expert on Anti-Money Laundering and Corporate Transparency policy by the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency (FACT) coalition.
Virginia Canter
Ethics and Anti-Corruption Chief Counsel and Director
Ms. Canter is an expert in government ethics with extensive experience working for nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and international institutions. In addition to her work at Democracy Defenders Action, Ms. Canter has served as Associate Counsel for President Obama and President Clinton, Ethics Advisor for the International Monetary Fund, Chief Ethics Counsel for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and senior ethics counsel for the Department of the Treasury and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Hans Klinger
Vice President for Finance and Operations
Hans has broad experience in finance, operations and strategy in the private, non-profit, and public sectors. Hans was Deputy CFO for the Biden and Harris for President campaign, overseeing the largest presidential campaign budget in history ($2.2B). Previously, Hans was CFO for a voter registration organization, worked in strategy and consulting for Bain & Company, and worked in financial management in the education sector for KIPP:Massachusetts. Hans holds an MBA from UC Berkeley.
Stephen Jonas
Chief Counsel, Rapid Response Legal Team
Steve Jonas joins DDA with 40 years of criminal and civil litigation and trial experience. He was a Deputy Attorney General for the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, led the white collar defense practice of a major law firm for over 25 years, and, during the Biden Administration, was the Senior Advisor to the General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, advising Department leadership on major litigation and Congressional oversight and investigations.
