Meredith MacKenzie de Silva

Meredith MacKenzie de Silva is a skilled communications professional who works with clients to design and execute messaging campaigns and communications plans in support of their goals. At West End Strategy Team, Meredith is a leading adviser for clients focused on expanding human rights, particularly those working with immigrants, refugees and asylum-seekers. Her work connecting clients with reporters and shaping their social media strategies has helped drive the dialogue around human rights in supply chains and fair labor practices, foreign aid and the faith-based social justice movement. She brings a decade of journalism, communications, nonprofit and international development experience, as well as a deep belief in social justice, to WEST’s work.

Having worked at WEST earlier in her career, Meredith went on to work in the international development field as both a communications director for a legal NGO defending communities hurt by international finance and as a communications adviser for the Democracy, Rights and Governance Team at the USAID Mission in Liberia. While in Liberia she was part of USAID’s technical assistance for the country’s 2017 presidential elections, organizing an international observer mission and working with partners to increase women’s participation in the democratic process and expand civic and voter education. She also previously served as press secretary for former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), where she worked to gain constituent support and build political coalitions around critical legislation, including the Affordable Care Act.

Meredith has had a wide-ranging communications career and education in both journalism and political economy. Meredith holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri School of Journalism and a master’s degree in international development from the London School of Economics. She speaks Spanish fluently.