Michael is founder and CEO of Candlelion LLC, a global consulting firm that advises the world’s largest companies, most iconic brands, major startups and investors, next-gen entrepreneurs and leading nonprofits. He has personally coached and trained more than 25,000 people, ages 3 to 93, over 100 companies, from Amazon to Uber, from Anchorage to Zanzibar. For 25 years, he has been an expert in strategic communications, leadership development, philanthropy and corporate responsibility. Trained as a public interest attorney, he is adjunct faculty at Johns Hopkins University.
He has awarded over $500 million in grants through key leadership roles: Entertainment Industry Foundation (Senior Vice President), Council on Foundations (Board Secretary), Philippine Development Foundation (Board Secretary), California Volunteers (Chairperson) and the Liberty Hill Foundation (Board Chairperson).
Michael is a lifelong advocate of racial and gender equity and social justice. He has volunteered with many nonprofits including California Coalition Against Sexual Assault, Girls Inc., Girls Leadership, Lean In, National Domestic Workers Alliance, and V-Day. He enrolled at Princeton University at age 16 and has taught students, faculty, and staff at a dozen campuses from Harvard and MIT to historically black colleges and universities. With a B.A. in International Relations from Princeton and J.D. from UCLA, his career has taken him to 50 countries, 40 U.S. states, and 300 cities on six continents.
He does his laundry and yoga in Manhattan. Someday, he hopes to have his own family and maybe even a puppy or a llama.
