Michael Giovanis is a passionate advocate for the unhoused, who has been fortunate to contribute across various meaningful areas in the state. He has a wide range of interdisciplinary knowledge and is continually adding skills and knowledge to his repertoire. For a majority of his career he has been placed in roles with minimal direction and often undefined goals and thrives in said environments. Michael helped co-found the nonprofit LEAN (mnlean.org) which strives to foster a network of lived experience advocates across the state, provide educational resources, and offer a nurturing community for mutual support and collaboration. Michael served as the Director of Development and Operations for CloseKnit, a systems change organization focused on Chosen Family hosting arrangements for youth. Michael was a consultant for the Minnesota Interagency Council on Homelessness and co-lead the early work of the Crossroads to Justice Strategic Plan. Michael also serves as the co-chair of the Minneapolis Advisory Committee on Housing, as a member of the Hennepin County Lived Experience Advisory Group, and as a member of the Hennepin CoC Funding Committee. In his spare time, Michael serves as board treasurer for the Minnesota Minx Womxn's football team and as the membership chair of Fourth Generation.