Maïca Poirier Murphy is Vice-President at Higher Education Strategy Associates (HESA), Canada's leading higher education consulting firm, where she advises postsecondary institutions and governments on the strategic questions that shape their futures. With more than 15 years in the sector, she has become a trusted partner to leaders navigating change at various types of postsecondary institutions and allied organizations navigating very different contexts with greatly differing constraints and opportunities—from small regional colleges to U15 research-intensive universities, government agencies, and allied organizations across the country.

Maïca leads institution-wide strategic planning, organizational reviews, and applied research from design through delivery, pairing empirical analysis with the kind of persuasive storytelling that builds genuine community buy-in. She has guided strategic and academic planning for client organizations by engaging several interested parties ranging from front line staff to board executives. Her office reviews and institutional-improvement work help institutions find efficiencies and redirect resources toward their ambitions. She also leads market analyses and feasibility studies that give clients clear-eyed answers to high-stakes questions about programming, partnerships, and positioning. As a result of her wide-ranging experience and passion for mapping what is happening in the sector, she is regularly called upon to present to boards and executives about emerging trends in the sector.

Fully bilingual, Maïca works in English and French. She is a recognized voice in Canadian higher education, contributing to national discourse through invited talks, conference presentations, published research, and regular media commentary in outlets, including CBC National.

Before joining HESA in 2022, Maïca spent six years at St. Francis Xavier University as Academic Project Coordinator, where she work as part of teams to develop and launch numerous new programs, ensure compliance with academic quality-assurance processes, and authored policies. Her earlier career spans freelance research and consulting and an award-winning tenure at Oxford University Press.

Maïca holds an M.A. in English Literature and Cultural Theory from the University of Alberta and a first-class honours B.A. from St. Francis Xavier University. She is based in Nova Scotia.

Specialisms: Institutional strategy and planning; Canadian Higher Education Trends and Sector Intelligence; Institutional Organization