On August 1, 2021, Mr. François Traoré was appointed the new Resident Director of NDI Côte d'Ivoire. Mr. Traoré previously worked at USAID, the National Democratic Institute (NDI), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and the African Development Bank (ADF).

Over his 20-year career, Mr. Traore has developed strong skills and expertise on issues related to peacebuilding, community resilience, countering violent extremism, good governance, political processes, and civil society development. During this time he served in Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and the United States.

Mr. Traoré holds two Masters degrees from Eastern Mennonite University in Virginia, one in Conflict Transformation, with a double concentration in Development and Peacebuilding & Trauma Healing, and the other in Democracy, Human Rights and Governance. He also holds a Diplôme d'études supérieures (DES) from the Gamal Abdel Nasser University in Conakry, Guinea. He is fluent in French and English.