Blair was an English teaching volunteer in Pekanbaru, Indonesia from 1989-1993 after graduating from Stanford. He then earned his Ph.D. in political science at The Ohio State University, focusing on Indonesia’s 1998-1999 transition to democracy, while also working at the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI). Since 2006 he has worked as a foreign service officer at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) promoting democracy, human rights, and good governance, with service in Indonesia, Nigeria, and Washington, DC. At NDI and USAID he has also worked on programs in many other countries of East, Southeast, South, and Central Asia. He joined the VIA Board in 2023.