I first joined Environmental Initiative as an intern and the organization’s first communications staff member, just two years after it was founded. I had recently moved to Minnesota from Eastern Kentucky, where I worked with an environmental justice organization in some of the region’s poorest counties. While I believed deeply in that work, I realized we were mostly speaking to those who already agreed with us. I came here looking for something different—a chance to work at the intersection of diverse perspectives, where people didn’t all start from the same place.

I found that opportunity at Environmental Initiative. From the beginning, my values aligned with the organization’s core identity: a belief in the power of relationships to drive change, and a commitment to healing division by working together across difference. I’ve always been grounded in the idea that people and the natural world are deeply interdependent—and that through connection and collaboration, we can build something better. Whether I’m in conversation with business leaders or community organizers, I find joy in helping hold relationships that our divided world tells us cannot be held.

My passion for this work is deeply personal. I grew up fishing the Hudson River with my grandfather, learning early on how the same water could both sustain and harm us. My parents, both secular Franciscans, instilled in me a sense of care for the most vulnerable. I have long felt a deep connection to St. Francis of Assisi, both for his love of human and animal life alike, and the way he lived his values and built a community around him. Similarly, Jacques Cousteau’s words—“love all life”—have stayed with me since childhood. My hope is that through my work, others can experience the power of embracing our interdependence as the foundation for a thriving, equitable future.

Mike brings 28 years of experience in nonprofit leadership, strategic planning, communications, finance, facilitation, and community engagement. Mike is also a leader in his faith community and serves on multiple groups advancing social, racial, and environmental justice among people of faith, including as a member of the Vision Circle for the newly forming Minnesota Chapter of the Laudato Si Movement.