Profile

David Morley is passionate about writing - it is his way of figuring out an argument, of working out complex issues, and of coming to terms with tough experiences. As the President and Chief Executive Officer of UNICEF Canada, former CEO of Save the Children Canada, and former Executive Director of Médecins sans Frontières Canada (MSF), he knows the value of relating the truth through storytelling. Grounding advocacy in reality is for him the best way of reaching out to policy makers. And his quest for the truth is at the heart of why he enjoys working with children: children prove to accept the truth more openly, perhaps because they know they must build the future.

Knowing that it will not always be possible to reach an important humanitarian goal is the hardest thing for David Morley to accept. So, he continues to aim high, whether it is to get three million children into school by 2010 or to significantly reduce the cost of Aids medication, an MSF goal many thought unrealistic a few years ago, but which is now on its way to being realized.

David Morley strives to narrow the distance between community development, the environment, and consumer attitudes. Only through a shift in attitudes will we make this a better world for all: "Canadians are too fortunate to not speak up when we see injustice in the world."

David Morley encourages young people to experience international values. Upon finishing his studies, he followed his mentor's advice to 'go out and learn by first meeting people,' rather than taking the office job which had been offered to him. As a Trudeau Mentor, David Morley now gives this same advice. Although he realizes he can't save the world - at least not alone! - he is convinced of the privilege of working with and learning from those who are the forgotten of this world.

Biography

David Morley is currently Chief Executive Officer of Save the Children Canada and from ‎‎1998 to 2005 was Executive Director of Médecins sans Frontières/Doctors without ‎Borders Canada. His first overseas experience was volunteering with street children in ‎Central America in the 1970s, and he has also worked on humanitarian and community ‎development projects in Congo, Zambia, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Mexico, Dominican ‎Republic, El Salvador and Brazil. He has served on the Board of the Canadian Council ‎for International Co-operation, as President of the Ontario Council for International ‎Cooperation, and he is a member of the Board of Directors of the Stephen Lewis ‎Foundation. He also served as the first Executive Director of the Institute for Canadian ‎Citizenship.‎

David Morley's writing on international issues has appeared in the ‎International Herald Tribune, the Globe and Mail, the National Post, La Presse and the ‎Toronto Star. He co-authored the Canadian bestseller Under the Tree: Creative ‎Alternatives to a Consumer Christmas, a book that looks at environmental and global ‎issues and is currently working on a book for young readers about Doctors without ‎Borders.

In recognition of his contributions to international cooperation, David ‎was awarded the Commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of ‎Confederation.