Michael joined the Knight Foundation (www.knightfoundation.org) in 2011. Previously, he was vice president of innovation and design at Gannett where he led the creation of an innovation process based on human-centered design and launched multiple new brands. He also served as vice president of strategic planning for Gannett's newspaper division, launched several local news sites across the company and developed the industry’s first daily video newscast on the Web done without a television partner. He was a co-winner in 2007 of the Chairman's Special Achievement Award at Gannett and was named to the Newspaper Association of America's list of "20 under 40". Before joining Gannett, Michael was an analyst and media consultant, a campaign manager and a marketing account executive. He is a graduate of Northwestern University. He has been a member of Knight Foundation’s journalism advisory committee for the past four years.