Washington, District of Columbia, USA, May 2024 – Michael Shipler has been appointed as the Acting Chief Executive Officer at Soliya, a subsidiary of Search for Common Ground. Michael will be engaging US college administrations to help respond to this moment of acute polarization and pivot for the fall semester to build peace from campuses outward.
Michael’s most recent role was as Vice President, Strategy at Search for Common Ground, where he served for approximately four years. As a member of the Executive Team, he led organizational strategy development, managed a global team of 30 technical experts, and oversaw planning and performance systems, program quality standards, and business continuity plans during COVID-19. He also led efforts to establish SFCG’s presence in Latin America and supported the merger with Preemptive Love Coalition.
Before that, Michael served as Associate Vice President, Strategy and Program Quality at Search for Common Ground for nearly two years. In this role, he oversaw the development of peacebuilding strategies for multi-country “conflict geographies” and facilitated strategies for various regions, including the Horn of Africa, Central and South Asia, the Levant, and the West African Sahel.
From there, Michael held the position of Regional Director, Asia at Search for Common Ground for about six years. He managed programming across 11 countries in Asia, supervised offices in multiple countries, and led innovative programming in countering violent extremism, governance, and security sector engagement. He managed a staff of over 100 people and oversaw the establishment of the Central Asia Regional Program and a new country program in Myanmar.
Earlier Roles: Michael’s earlier roles include being a Senior Program Advisor at Search for Common Ground for approximately two years, where he strengthened program quality and supported peacebuilding methodology, strategy, and innovation. He also served as the Director of Programmes for Search for Common Ground in Nepal, co-founding and directing a multi-pronged peacebuilding program during the peace process. Additionally, Michael held roles such as Director of Children and Youth Programs and Coordinator of Children and Youth Programs at Search for Common Ground, where he established the Children and Youth Division and co-founded the Washington Network on Children and Armed Conflict.
About Soliya: Soliya is an international nonprofit organization based in New York City, with a mission to use technology to empower young adults to engage with their differences constructively and promote understanding and empathy among their societies. Soliya has pioneered the field of virtual exchange, using technology-enabled, sustained people-to-people dialogue and education to equip rising generations with the empathy, employability, and leadership skills needed to thrive in the 21st-century world and workforce. Soliya’s core program areas include Dialogue Exchange, engaging college-aged youth in multilateral conversations, and Facilitation Training, training individuals to moderate meaningful and mutually beneficial dialogue exchange. Since 2002, Soliya has connected 10,000 students across 30 countries and 29 US states and trained 2,000 cross-cultural facilitators spanning 94 nationalities. Soliya is funded by foundations, governments, and individuals and partners with social scientists to evaluate its impact.
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