Mike most recently served as Massachusetts’ Secretary of Housing and Economic Development for four years, advancing the Baker-Polito Administration’s agenda to create economic opportunity and new housing for residents. He led significant investments in affordable housing production, community development, workforce skills programs and small business support while working to strengthen the Commonwealth’s leadership in the innovation economy. Mike shepherded through the Legislature the Administration’s third economic development bill which included the most significant housing policy reforms in decades. He co-chaired the Reopening Advisory Board, the Economic Development Planning Council, the Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative, the Mass Fintech Hub, and the Governor’s Workforce Skills Cabinet, and he chaired the boards of MassDevelopment and the Mass Life Sciences Center, where he also served as interim CEO. Mike previously served as Assistant Secretary for Business Growth beginning in early 2015, playing an integral role in advancing the Administration’s strategy for job creation and business development.
Mike combines a successful track record in business with a strong commitment to public service. He began his career in private equity at TA Associates. In 1997, he joined Spectrum Equity, a firm founded in 1994. During his more than 15 years at Spectrum, he helped grow the firm to become an established market leader with nearly $5 billion in assets under management and investments in over 100 high-growth companies in the information economy. After his career in private equity, Mike spent two years as Special Advisor to the Receiver at Lawrence Public Schools, where he worked with the state-appointed superintendent/receiver and Lawrence community partners on strategic and financial initiatives to support the school district’s turnaround plan.
Mike and his family live in Lexington, where they have been highly involved in town government, education and youth sports. He previously served as Chair of the Board of Trustees at St. John’s Prep in Danvers, where he received the school’s Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2016, and previously served on the Board of Visitors for the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences at Dartmouth College. Mike received an A.B. magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, with High Honors in Government from Dartmouth College and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
