Michael serves as Director of Youth Opportunity Programs at the Obama Foundation and Executive Director of the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance. In these roles, Michael leads the Foundation’s efforts to scale the My Brother’s Keeper (MBK) initiative and aligned programs to expand opportunity for underserved youth.

Michael was part of the team that launched MBK, President Obama’s cross-sector call to action to address persistent opportunity gaps faced by boys and young men of color and to ensure that all youth can reach their full potential. As Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director of Cabinet Affairs for MBK, Michael became the first and only White House director of the initiative.

Prior to joining the White House, Michael was an appointee in the Obama Administration, serving as director of the Social Innovation Fund (SIF). He reinvigorated and expanded the initiative, managed its largest funding competition, introduced its first Pay for Success grant program, and oversaw a portfolio of more than $700 million in public-private investments, supporting more than 200 nonprofits.

Before joining the Obama Administration Michael served as SVP of Social Innovation at the Case Foundation, where he oversaw the Foundation’s giving and program strategy, and guided numerous global public-private partnerships. Earlier in his career, Michael helped build national initiatives aimed at bridging the “digital divide” at the Beaumont Foundation of America and PowerUP, served as a senior staff member at the Family Center Boys & Girls Club, was an aide to U.S. Congressman Richard E. Neal and has a B.A. in Communications from Marymount University.

In 2014, Michael was inducted in Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s Alumni Hall of Fame, the organization’s highest honor. Prior to his appointment, Michael served for many years on the boards of Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement (PACE), Idealist.org and Public Allies.