Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, Stephen Murphy always felt drawn 'south of the border' - starting with an Ecuadorian amiga at Seattle's World Fair. An alumnus of the University of Washington and Columbia's Graduate School of Business, he served as gunnery officer on the USS Goldsborough offshore Vietnam. His first job as a young professional was international banker in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, where Brazil brought him face-to-face with street kids, depicted in ON THE EDGE: AN ODYSSEY. While holding executive positions with BankBoston, Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios, Peace Corps and Inter-American Development Bank, his love and friendships continue with peoples of the Americas throughout the years. He mentors students in AIESEC, University of Washington, and Fundação Getulio Vargas. As a political appointee in Bush I and II, formerly as Regional Director, Inter-Americas, Peace Corps, Stephen still likes to participate in missions abroad, sponsored by church, universities or NGO. As founder of the Pixote Literacy Fund, Partners of the Americas, he seeks 'faith based' projects to help kids "on the edge" to read around the hemisphere. He is Pacific Northwest Advisors' expert in Latin America and travels to Brazil, Cuba and Mexico with frequency.

He serves as chapter advisor, Phi Kappa Psi fraternity at the University of Washington and on UW AIESEC's Board of Advisors. He's taught international management courses at Seattle University and Fundação Getulio Vargas. He resides in Issaquah, Washington with his wife Vicki and their Lhasa Apso, 'Bashful Betty', and tabby cat Rosie. Stephen loves swimming in open bodies of water and welcomes dialogue with friends. CARPE DIEM.Remarks BankBoston's alumni director, William Hamilton: "Steve's early days in Rio de Janeiro - living in a favela and hanging out with Rio's street kids - are unusual for a staid banker. Though sometimes iconoclastic, his words and actions always give hope.".