Sean Gralton ’88

As a U.S. government secondee to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, first as the senior legal advisor to the Central Election Commission, and then with the Electoral Complaint Commission, Sean Gralton, ’88 worked in the independent state of Kosovo.

Sean moved east and began working on democratic projects in Iraq and Afghanistan. In Afghanistan, Sean worked closely for several years with the Afghan Electoral Commission as a legal advisor and was the head of the Electoral Complaint Commission Secretariat in 2005 during Afghanistan’s first national legislative election. He also worked with the Afghan National Assembly after the election with the State University of New York’s Parliamentary Assistance Project.

Sean lead a field office during Iraq’s first elections for the provisional National Assembly. After the permanent legislature was elected and seated, he provided technical advice and training to members of the first permanent national legislature in Baghdad, and finally returned in 2009 to provide technical assistance to the legislature and the electoral commission in the run up to this spring’s legislative election.

Since the time he was young, Sean was certain that he wanted to be a lawyer. He achieved his ambition by graduating from Boston University law school in 1996, but was at a loss as to what to do next. Given his interest in politics, a move to Washington was the next natural step, leading to a short but interesting career with three notable members of Congress, beginning as an intern with Representative Joseph P. Kennedy II, then as a legislative assistant to Representative John Conyers Jr., then the senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee and finally as communications director for Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton of Washington, D.C.

Sean is now working part time as an administrative law judge in New York and is continuing his work on international issues when not spending time with his partner, Marina, and his daughter, Neoma.