Michael is an internationally published political analyst, educator and media producer. He has worked as a consultant and media strategist on US political campaigns at the local, state and national levels for more than two decades.
Michael co-founded the 1.0 million member Courage California organization (Originally called the Courage Campaign.) and traveled to every area of California for several years organizing, training and as a motivational speaker to grassroots political activists while growing the organization’s membership and political capacity.
Since 2016, Michael has traveled widely in the U.S., Europe and Latin America investigating and learning from new citizen driven political and civic initiatives that are changing the way civic life is conducted. Reports on Michael’s journey have been published worldwide. He is an English language columnist for Truthout, a Spanish language columnist for the Montevideo Portal in Uruguay and Resiliente Magazine in México and an international columnist for Pressenza.
His investigations and collaborations led to the founding of the Reimagining Politics project in 2017, with the mission of showcasing alternative models of successful citizen-driven political initiatives outside of parties and government. The goal is to fundamentally change the way we think about politics by kindling hybrid forms of direct democracy that produce truly representative governance.
Michael graduated with a BA in Liberal Arts from the University of Montana in Missoula with an emphasis in philosophy and history. He will publish new books in 2025 offering a mix of philosophy, reportage and personal reflection distilled from nearly 20 years of travel, research and field investigation at the intersection of politics and culture.
If you are hungry for a deeper, more philosophical perspective on our broken politics, a perspective that is almost wholly missing in political journalism today, be sure to subscribe to Reimagining Politics Magazine.
Social media are linked below. Michael is also on LinkedIn.
Books in process.
• From Shamans to Scientists
• Pachamama Tales
• A Chainsaw in the Garden of Evita