Accomplishments
A former gubernatorial appointee with nearly two decades of leadership experience in the public and private sectors, Michael’s career includes leadership roles at some of the largest state agencies and Fortune 100 companies in the United States. Michael was a business strategy leader at AT&T Mobility & Entertainment, the largest telecommunications company in the United States. He managed a multi-million dollar budget and led bi-coastal teams in the functional areas of wireless planning and strategy for both consumer and business operations and was involved with numerous early-stage innovations and technology launches during his tenure.
Michael leveraged his private sector expertise to reimagine public service in the California government sector nearly ten years ago and has continued to be a change agent ever since. Initially, his public sector career took him to the California Department of Insurance (CDI) as a Strategic Planning Lead, the largest consumer protection agency in the state. At CDI, Michael was charged with revamping the agency’s strategic direction on behalf of all consumers. He then took a leadership role at the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), the nation’s largest public pension fund with nearly $487B in assets. As a senior leader at CalPERS, Michael led and operationalized CalPERS’ first-ever Enterprise Performance Management business model and oversaw the development, implementation, and maintenance of the CalPERS Strategic and Business Plans. At the core of his work was a deep admiration for California’s workforce – he led efforts to establish a cohesive enterprise strategy and performance culture to catalyze organizational progress across healthcare, information technology, retirement benefits administration, and investment functions.
Michael also provided quarterly public briefings on CalPERS’ overall organizational health and enterprise performance to the 13-member CalPERS Board of Administration and was honored to accept, on behalf of CalPERS, honorable recognition for the 2019 Richard Goodman Award for Excellence in Strategy from the International Association for Strategy Professionals. As part of this success and focus on creating opportunities for Californians of all backgrounds, he facilitated a partnership between the Office of Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg and CalPERS’ Investment Office to establish CalPERS’ first-ever onsite pilot internship program for disadvantaged high school students. Michael also established the first-ever CalPERS Diversity & Inclusion Enterprise Strategy, which included cultural competency training and public reporting on CalPERS’ diversity goals and progress across all divisions.
In 2019, Michael was appointed to the executive branch by California’s 40th Governor Gavin Newsom and was unanimously confirmed (35-0) by the California State Senate to serve as California’s first ever Deputy Secretary required to appear and be confirmed by the California State Senate. In this capacity he led California’s Workforce and Equity portfolio for the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA) and was responsible for the agency’s statewide workforce strategy and initiatives to build equitable public workforce development programs that support California employers, incumbent workers, and job seekers. He spearheaded the launch, among many programs, the California Youth Leadership Corps (CYLC)—a unique statewide initiative of the LWDA, Community Learning Partnership (CLP), select community colleges, social justice organizations and private philanthropy—and the Pathways to State Service (PASS) workforce training collaborative, which created pathways to state public sector careers for community members with high barriers to employment (i.e. justice involved, justice impacted, disinvested, etc.). Michael also developed and launched the LWDA Executive Leadership Academy for 50 senior leaders within the 7 departments, boards, and panels within the agency to support leadership development, inclusive practices, and succession planning efforts.
Michael has spent the past 3 years within the nation’s largest community college system building and redesigning a startup statewide and fully online community college. As the Vice President of Workforce, Strategy and Innovation at Calbright College, Michael is responsible for aligning and scaling the college’s statewide workforce and economic development ecosystem to support economically dislocated and predominantly underserved Californians. Under his leadership and in collaboration with his colleagues, the college has introduced a robust statewide workforce strategy (focus areas include partnership development, economic development, research & development, data strategy and institutional effectiveness), increased enrollments by nearly 500% (majority BIPOC), received accreditation by a national accreditation agency, expanded public-private partnerships, and positioned the college for both state and federal collaboration.
Background
Michael’s lived experience is what has prepared him for the monumental and pervasive challenges the state faces today. His lived experiences combined with his professional background of nearly two decades of leadership experience in both the private and public sectors represent a combination of expertise that is not only valuable but critical for the state’s economic, social, and political stability.
When he focuses on the importance of mentorship and guidance counselors in the structure of public workforce programs, he reflects on his youth experiences at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Monterey County and he’s reminded of the void that was filled by so many community-centered organizations like the Policeman’s Activities League.
Public service is personal for Michael. He understands that as a current public servant seeking the office of Governor, one of his key responsibilities is to once again restore confidence and civility in the body politic and one another while managing and improving the functions of government. The opportunities he’s had, and will continue to have, to hear from people throughout the state—their concerns, hopes, and disappointments— motivates him to have the audacity to chart a path for a better tomorrow.
Family
A native Californian and the proud son of a determined single-parent mother, Michael has a story far too common for many marginalized, disinvested, and underserved populations. His success is also part of California’s story. His passion and personal connection for public service and servant leadership are deeply rooted in the cycle of poverty that has plagued his family for generations. His personal story has always informed his work and decision-making on behalf of Californians up and down the state while in both the private and public sectors and at various levels of the local, state, and executive branch of state government.
When he works with employers and job creators from the public and private sectors, unions, community-based organizations, and workforce boards to create more pathways to high-road jobs, he thinks about his mother who worked two low-wage jobs with inadequate healthcare options to support her children. The hours his mother spent working night shifts and standing on her feet in service of others led to various health challenges later in her life.
When advancing economic opportunity for Californians, including communities of color, immigrants, the formerly incarcerated, and others yearning to experience the dignity of work, he thinks about his mother’s first work experiences picking cotton and grapes in the fields of central California and the limited educational and job opportunities available to her. He also thinks about his father’s long-term addiction to drugs that made being present and finding and retaining work nearly impossible, especially given that his father was justice-involved and impacted as well.
When he engages with youth entering the job market at times of economic uncertainty or he leads state government agencies to work smarter and more strategically as stewards of public funds, he recalls the period when his family lived in a shelter for mothers and their children and had to use their scarce resources wisely.
Michael’s humble beginning has shaped the past two decades of his contribution and he is honored to continue his service by running for the young, the mature, and the aging. He’s running for the multi-generational and multi-cultural. For the disinvested and marginalized, and also for the well-established because in his vision for California, everyone has a role. He’s running a campaign for PEOPLE, not a Person. Because togetherness and plurality are where change happens and it’s destined to happen right here in California!
