Leslie Campbell is NDI's senior associate and regional director for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). He joined NDI in 1994 and has directed Institute's programs in the MENA region since 1996.
Mr. Campbell has overseen a vast expansion of NDI's programs in the Middle East with the establishment of nine permanent offices and dozens of programs that furnish assistance with political, civic and governance reform, and development throughout the Arab world.
A frequent guest and commentator on Middle East issues for major news outlets, he has also written a number of articles and papers on the subject of democracy in the Middle East. Mr. Campbell comments and writes frequently on the topic of Canadian political party reform and co-authored, with Thomas Axworthy, The Democracy Canada Institute, A Blueprint (Centre for the Study of Democracy, Queen's University, 2005).
Mr. Campbell has been a guest speaker and/or lecturer at American University, Georgetown University, Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, the University of Toronto and several chapters of the World Affairs Council; and has been a speaker/presenter and panelist at numerous conferences and events. He has been served as a member of task forces and study groups on Middle East democracy at the Brookings Institution, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and the United States Institute of Peace.
Mr. Campbell is a fellow of the Queen's University Centre for the Study of Democracy in Kingston, Ontario and, before joining NDI, was chief of staff to the leader of the New Democratic Party in the Canadian House of Commons.
Mr. Campbell holds a Master's degree in Public Administration from Harvard University and a B.A. (Honours) from the University of Manitoba.
