My professional work and volunteer experiences have focused on the intersection of government institutions and community stakeholders with an emphasis on advocacy campaigns, public policy, sustainability, natural resource management, and public and media relations in a variety of issue contexts and communities. Since joining Sierra Club Florida as a full time staff member in 2019 has has worked closely with external partner organizations, local volunteers, and various Sierra Club capacities including Communications, Political, the Environmental Law Programs to secure organizational interests on local, state, and Federal policies related to land and water conservation issues. Michael is a proud AmeriCorps alumni having completed a conservation fellowship with TerraCorps at Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust where he coordinated a regional network comprised of conservation organizations, state agencies, town boards, academic institutions, and others who were interested in protecting and stewarding open space within the greater Quabbin region of Massachusetts. Previously he spent extensive time abroad in Nicaragua where he immersed himself in the culture, traditions, and lived realities of Nicaragua completing community service projects with partner organizations and an international research project sponsored by the Brueggeman Center for Dialogue at Xavier University in collaboration with Nitlapan, an agricultural research NGO. While based out of Cincinnati, OH, I was actively engaged in political campaigns, community organizing, undergraduate research, and held several student organization leadership positions where he galvanized student resources towards student-led activism and community service. I am a proud graduate of Xavier University where he took an interdisciplinary approach to his studies with a major in Political Science and minors in Environmental Studies, International Studies, Theology, and Peace and Justice Studies. His Liberal Arts and interdisciplinary education continue to underpin his professional role as a practitioner and in his servant leadership. In his downtime I enjoy passing time with family and friends, experimenting in the kitchen, and enjoying quality time in the outdoors.
