Robin McLay is a Senior Advisor to the Global Center for Indigenomics and a proud member of Canada’s Métis community. He currently serves as the Regional Director of Fulbright Canada West and as Director of Honouring Nations Canada – a program co-developed with the Harvard Project on Indigenous Governance and Development to celebrate and strengthen Indigenous- led innovation and governance across the country.

Robin is also a Senior Fellow with the African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET), where he supports ACET’s strategic collaboration with the African Union to advance artificial intelligence and digital policy frameworks for AU member states. In parallel, he serves as Strategic Advisor to the Nairobi-based Partnership for Economic Policy (PEP), a globally respected research institute that works with policymakers and scholars across the Global South to promote inclusive, evidence-based development strategies.

Throughout his career, Robin has held senior leadership positions across government, academia, and philanthropy. He served as Director General at Global Affairs Canada, where he oversaw the department’s global democratic governance and policy research divisions. In this role he led the Indigenous Peoples Secretariat. His previous roles include Head of Research and Strategy at the MasterCard Foundation, Executive Director of the Institute for the Study of International Development at McGill University, Executive Director of Harvard University’s Native American Program, and Executive Director of Social Innovation and Social Finance for the Government of British Columbia. He also led international partnerships for the Canada School of Public Service.

Robin’s work bridges research and public policy, with a focus on Indigenous self-determination, sustainable economic transformation, ethical innovation, and systems-level change. He has advised governments, philanthropic foundations, multilateral institutions, investors, and civil society organizations around the world, advancing initiatives in Indigenous governance, the digital economy, AI regulation, and impact-driven finance. He serves on several boards and advisory groups, including the British Columbia Métis Federation, the Walrus Foundation, and McGill University’s Institute for the Study of International Development. He is also a Senior Consultant with the Boston-based Consensus Building Institute and an Associate with the Harvard Project on Indigenous Governance and Development.

Robin holds an MPA from Harvard’s Kennedy School, where he was a Fulbright Scholar and Government of Canada Science Policy Fellow. He also earned an MSc with Distinction from the London School of Economics and graduated with High Distinction from McGill University.