Much to his parents’ disappointment, Michael made his post-college living as a stand-up comic and a member of a theater company in New York City. Later spent time as a Buddhist monk in Asia. After thousands of hours on a meditation cushion, he was offered a teaching job at his former middle school, and he never looked back.
For the next thirty years, Michael served in California’s public education system. After working as a middle school history teacher, he taught comparative government, economics and psychology at his former high school. After fifteen years in the classroom he moved into administration, initially acting as an Associate Principal at Miramonte High School in Orinda, California where he was put in charge of educational technology. After this, he became principal of Northgate High School in Walnut Creek, California, where he worked to set up a technical infrastructure that provided network access to all of his students, and ended up increasing the school’s graduation rate by ten percent. In this environment he and his team were able to establish a one-to-one device integration for each of Northgate’s students which helped them weather the difficulties posed by COVID’s restrictions.
During his tenure as principal, he received his doctoral degree in international educational administration. During this time he researched the integration of mindfulness practices in US high schools as a way of meeting the challenges relating to social and emotional learning for teens. His studies took him to schools in Asia, the Middle East, and Europe where he learned, first hand, how to inspire successful approaches to student learning outcomes.
He carried this experience with him when he was hired at Apple, Inc. as an education leadership executive, where he supported Bay Area schools as they worked to integrate technology in the classroom. Transitioning from Apple, Michael has enjoyed being able to share his leadership experiences with other executives as an ICF Certified coach and consultant for organizations and their leaders aligning their performance with their vision.
In his free time, Michael enjoys parenting his teens, cycling, open-water swimming, and surfing.