AAAP Regional A-Talk #15 | Finding Your Voice to Be a Change Agent!

Mike will discuss his non-traditional path through AIESEC-International, to Stanford Business School to coming out as a gay man and using his talents to radically alter national and international perception of HIV/AIDS. Taking the risk to be your authentic self can alter the institutions and community around you!

Speaker Information:

Mike was Assistant Secretary General of AIESEC International 1982-83.

He is the co-founder of the AIDS Memorial Quilt and served as managing director there from 1987 to 1989. During his tenure there, the Quilt grew from an idea to more than 18,000 memorial panels in 20 countries.  In 1989, he and his organization were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and the film about the Quilt, Common Threads, received the Academy Award for Best Documentary.  

Mike was executive director of the LGBT Community Center of Colorado from 1997 to 2001 and led the effort that created domestic partner rights and transgender rights legislation that became law there in 2002.  

He served as Executive Director of the AIDS Emergency Fund & Breast Cancer Emergency Fund from 2002 to 2015, helping more that 25,000 people disabled by HIV/AIDS or in treatment for breast cancer pay their bills while too sick to work.

Mike’s undergraduate degree is from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, where he led the local AIESEC chapter for three years. He received his MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business, and certificate program from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Public Policy. He resides in Washington DC with his partner, Steven Clay.