We open our first country office in Moscow and begin awarding grants to civil society projects and social enterprises in Russia. 

We launch the Small Business Lending Program to foster entrepreneurship in Armenia and Ukraine. Over the next decade, the program helps to introduce small commercial lending practices and creates thousands of jobs. 

We launch the Economics Education Research Consortium (EERC) to modernize economics education in Ukraine. In 2003, EERC’s master’s program becomes the Kyiv School of Economics, the leading institution of its kind in Ukraine. 

We break the longstanding government monopoly on newspaper printing in Armenia by transforming Gind Printing House into a profitable company that prints half of Armenia’s newspapers. 

AKIpress, a Eurasia Foundation-supported journalism outlet, becomes the first independent outlet covering all of Kyrgyzstan. We later assist AKIpress to expand coverage to the wider region with the launch of the Central Asia News Service. 

With support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, we launch the Caucasus Research Resource Centers in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. Together, the centers strengthen social science research and public policy analysis in the South Caucasus.  

We begin transforming our country offices into locally registered, independently governed NGOs. These organizations give rise to the EF Network.

To expand our work supporting civil society development in countries in transition, we launch our first online education program in the Middle East and North Africa. This initiative becomes the first of many Eurasia Foundation programs using virtual education to serve hard-to-reach populations. 

We launch the Sarah Carey Program, named for our long-serving chair. The program includes an annual award, a policy forum, and the Young Professionals Network to support rising Eurasia specialists in the United States and beyond.

We expand our work in the Middle East and North Africa with an advocacy initiative toward greater internet freedom in Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Tunisia. 

We launch the Transparency and Accountability in Public Administration and Services activity to combat systemic corruption in Ukraine.

Lisa Coll is appointed president of Eurasia Foundation, becoming the first woman to serve in the role.  

We launch the Social Innovation for Central Asia project to support a vibrant civil society across Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Drawing on our expertise in remote programming and e-governance, we rise to meet the unique challenges of the COVID-19 crisis. We establish a DEI Council to foster transparency and trust at all levels of the organization. We launch projects in Afghanistan and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

To support Ukrainians impacted by war, we assist the Government of Ukraine to launch the Register of Damaged and Destroyed Property. By the end of 2022, Ukrainians submit more than 300,000 notifications on damages, totaling 22 million square meters.

Eurasia Foundation launches the Digital Transformation Activity to support the development of transparent, inclusive, and efficient systems for e-governance in Ukraine.