Cat Wischmeyer is Senior Program Officer, Grant Operations at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA).

Wischmeyer is an international development and democracy professional with experience in program management, grantmaking and administration, and partnerships with civil society organizations (CSOs). Her work focuses on supporting democracy and governance initiatives and strengthening the systems that let international programs be implemented effectively and sustainably.

Before joining CEPA, Wischmeyer served as Senior Program Associate at the International Republican Institute (IRI), where she managed democracy and governance programming across West Africa. Her portfolio included programs and CSO partnerships in Benin, Sierra Leone, and The Gambia, along with proposal development, award management, budgeting, donor reporting, and compliance. She worked closely with international and local partners to turn program objectives into effective implementation and supported proposals and award extensions totaling more than $4 million.

Wischmeyer's graduate research at Indiana University Bloomington examined al-Shabaab's subjugation of Bantu women at the intersection of ethnicity and gender, building on her academic focus on East Africa. Her interests include democratic governance, migration, civil society, authoritarianism, and international security. She is particularly interested in how political and security developments, such as conflict and shifting geopolitical dynamics, shape policy.