Mike joined Gates Ventures (Bill Gates’s private office) in 2016, where he leads its Washington, DC office. In 2020, Mike helped establish Breakthrough Energy (BE) and as Executive Vice President, oversees the organization’s global policy and external affairs functions.
Prior to joining Gates Ventures and Breakthrough Energy, Mike was a Senior Fellow at the Aspen Institute, where he advised the institute and philanthropic foundations on issues at the intersection of business, civil society and the environment. Before that, he led the White House Council on Environmental Quality, where he served as the environmental advisor to President Obama in 2014 and 2015. In that role, he was responsible for aligning White House leaders and members of the Cabinet to execute the Administration’s environmental, climate, clean energy and conservation priorities. During his six years at the White House, he spearheaded a series of initiatives related to climate change, conservation, federal supply chain sustainability and resilient infrastructure.
Mike has held a variety of positions related to energy and the environment – at a public affairs firm, for the Governor of California, in the non-profit sector and in the Clinton Administration. He has a B.A. in communications from UCLA and a M.P.A. from the Maxwell School of Public Affairs at Syracuse University.
