Michael is the firm's founder and chief strategist. He helps the firm's clients to develop and articulate strategies clearly, and to communicate them more effectively. He also formulates corporate brand development and brand management strategies, and oversees the media relations efforts for all of the firm's clients.

Michael's drive comes from a deep-seeded passion for both economics and communications which he believes are inseparable. This passion has fueled a distinguished 30-year career in financial communications, during which he has counseled senior executives from a number of industries, including capital markets, financial services, health care, insurance and distribution.

Michael is also a seasoned advisor to exchanges, coalitions and other member-owned businesses, and has been instrumental in opening and positioning financial markets for new asset classes, including futures, options and other derivatives. In fact, his pioneering marketing and communications strategies contributed significantly to the success of exchange-listed options in the 1970s.

He also brings his skills to bear on numerous charitable pursuits, including The Parkinson's Disease Research Society and the Friends of Duprey, an organization he founded to help improve the educational opportunities available to students at Ana Roque de Duprey elementary school in Chicago's impoverished Humboldt Park neighborhood. Michael earned a Journalism degree from the University of Missouri, where he enjoyed a brief one-game career as one of legendary basketball coach Norm Stewart's Tigers.