Michael Mirny holds an M.A from Georgetown University and is currently a Lecturer at Phillip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland. Michael Mirny is a Senior Director of the Information and Media Practice at IREX, an NGO based in DC. He has more than 15 years of experience in international development. Mirny manages a portfolio of programs in Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, Asia, Europe and Eurasia, and Central America. Mirny started his career as a journalist at the BBC and Radio Free Europe. He is the recipient of the Golden Microphone Award for a program produced on the BBC about war reporting.