Robin Murchison Helps Set the Stage for NCInnovation’s Work
By Michelle Fiscus, Senior VP & Chief Communications Officer
Robin Murchison’s career began on the North Carolina coast, researching the relationship between environmental anti-fouling compounds and enzyme function in marine organisms. Science and research were her first professional passion. Although her career later moved into nonprofit governance and operations, joining NCInnovation offered a way to reconnect with that early interest while bringing a different set of skills to the work.
“NCInnovation brought those threads together: it lets me support research and science again, from a different seat, while also putting my governance and operational experience to work.”
As NCI’s Community Manager, Murchison supports the board and executive team, helps keep office and event operations running smoothly, and works on building relationships across North Carolina’s research and innovation community. Her contribution begins with the systems and support that allow colleagues to focus on their responsibilities.
She describes that work through an image that captures both its purpose and her approach.
“I think of my role like setting the stage for a performance: my focus is on making sure the people leading and doing the work have everything they need to succeed.”
Murchison brings experience from several sides of nonprofit governance. She has been a founding board member, a staff member supporting boards and, since 2021, the chair of a Triangle-area youth-serving nonprofit. She has also spent years working directly with executive leaders across organizations. Those experiences have helped her understand how boards and staff work together and anticipate what a leader or board member may need.
At NCI, she is still learning the particular dynamics of the leadership team and board. Much of her work is currently internal, with limited direct contact with university researchers and partners. By helping governance and operations function effectively, she supports executive leaders’ ability to devote their time and attention to those external relationships.
Her approach to collaboration reflects lessons from earlier operational work. In her previous full-time role, Murchison directed cross-functional operations across administrative, IT and private foundation teams. A headquarters relocation and the transition to a hybrid workplace required people with different responsibilities to help shape the decisions that affected them.
“That’s the model I hope to bring to NCInnovation: successful outcomes come from engaging the people in a decision before it’s finalized, not after.”
For Murchison, strong partnerships begin with relationships and shared values. Consistency, follow-through and clear communication help build trust before a difficult decision or urgent need puts that trust to the test.
Her interest in NCI also grows from more than a decade spent learning about and strengthening North Carolina communities. As a Leadership North Carolina alum, she gained a statewide perspective on how communities’ challenges and opportunities connect, even when their circumstances differ. What works in the mountains may differ from what works on the coast.
She recognizes that same attention to regional differences in NCI’s approach: a consistent statewide mission adapted to local needs and assets. Supporting that work brings her professional experience back into contact with the research that first drew her to a career in science.
As she looks ahead, Murchison sees funding as one part of a broader effort. Relationships, shared learning and attention to gaps and barriers also contribute to the conditions that help research advance. Her own focus is on strengthening the organizational foundation that supports those efforts.
“In the years ahead, I hope NCInnovation is known not just for the research it funds, but for the people who help make that happen, and for the trust built into how the organization operates.”