James Oliver is NDI’s resident director for Nigeria. He has more than 25 years of experience in political and international affairs. For close to a dozen of those years, Mr. Oliver served as NDI’s resident director in Liberia, East Timor, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and was senior advisor in the Philippines and Macedonia. Prior to joining NDI, Mr. Oliver was active in U.S. politics and was elected to four terms as a state legislator in Maine, where he served on the education and criminal justice committees. Mr. Oliver was the director of Maine’s largest community-based civil society organization for more than 20 years. He also directed Peace Corps programs in Latin America, was a community and labor organizer in Florida, Maine, Pennsylvania and Nevada and directed federal programs at Temple University and the University of Maine. Since joining NDI in 1997, Mr. Oliver has managed and overseen democracy support programs funded by USAID and other donors in the areas of legislative strengthening, citizen participation and political party development.
