Michael Murphy is the resident director for NDI’s West Bank/Gaza program. Previously for the Institute, he served as a resident senior advisor in Iraq, having earlier directed programs in Guyana. Between his two earliest NDI postings, Michael, a Canadian national, worked as a media and communications advisor with the government of British Columbia (BC).
Previous to NDI, he was chief of party for a major development program funded through a bilateral agreement between the governments of Guyana and the United States and implemented by the Carter Center and the International Foundation for Election Systems among other partners. Programs included legislative strengthening, judicial reform, elections, institutional capacity building, civil society development and local governance.
Michael also served as a land claims negotiator with the BC government’s Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs; executive director of the Multilingual Services Agency for Immigrant and Refugee Communities in Vancouver; an instructor at Vancouver Community College; secretary of the Canadian Council for Refugees; and a special assistant for legislative affairs with the government of Manitoba. He has significant electoral management experience with local, provincial and federal campaigns in Canada, and international experience in Indonesia, Russia and the Caribbean.
Michael earned his Bachelor's degree in Political Philosophy, and fulfilled Master's requirements in Philosophy and Theology from the University of Manitoba.