Michael Hansen is an accomplished nonprofit leader, advocate, and storyteller, boasting nearly two decades of experience, including eight years as CEO of a growing community-based organization. His strengths are in strategic planning, visioning, public relations, digital media, thought leadership, and program execution. Much of his impactful work has been at the crucial crossroads of environmental justice, climate change, and public health. He has also spearheaded successful campaigns championing LGBTQ equality, food accessibility, and health equity.

Michael’s journey began in the heart of Memphis, Tenn., where he was born and raised. In 2005, he earned his B.B.A. degree in marketing management with a minor in Spanish from the University of Memphis. Following his undergraduate pursuits, Michael ventured to Nashville, eager to forge a career in marketing. He secured a prestigious full-time internship at Seigenthaler Public Relations (now DVL Seigenthaler, a Finn Partners Company). Fate had other plans, however, as the Great Recession struck, prompting him to pivot towards graduate school.

From 2008 to 2011, he took the helm as the public relations and marketing coordinator for Friends of Birmingham Botanical Gardens. In this role, he skillfully managed media relations, devised digital marketing strategies, polished newsletters, and orchestrated event promotions. His crowning achievement was crafting and executing the organization’s inaugural social media strategy, solidifying its status as Alabama’s most-followed cultural institution at the time. He also played a pivotal role in birthing The Gardens’ inaugural Junior Board.

In 2011, Michael he embarked on a new adventure as the director of public relations for The Modern Brand Company. There, he meticulously orchestrated communications for the Jefferson County Health Action Partnership’s “Champions for Health” initiative. This endeavor included the resounding success of the “SmokeFree Alabama” campaign, a catalyst for the City of Birmingham’s adoption of its smoke-free ordinance. Michael earned his M.A. in 2015 with a commendable 3.9 GPA with the thesis, “Hyper-local public health policy change: a case study of the SmokeFree Birmingham campaign,” which delved into the pivotal role of public relations in catalyzing transformative local health initiatives.

Michael joined the staff of the burgeoning nonprofit organization called GASP, or the Greater-Birmingham Alliance to Stop Pollution, in 2013 as communications specialist (and later as communications director). The GASP Board of Directors entrusted him with the role of interim executive director in October 2015—a position that shed its interim status merely four months later. His tenure as the executive director ushered in a transformation, expanding GASP’s purview to encompass issues of racism and justice. They also instigated a crucial shift, evolving from an all-white staff and Board of Directors into a majority-POC organization. During this period, GASP emerged as one of the South’s foremost champions of environmental and climate justice.

In 2017, a pivotal moment arrived with the nomination of Jeff Sessions as Attorney General of the United States, prompting a special election in Alabama. Fueled by the desire to challenge the homophobic legacy of the leading Republican candidate, Judge Roy Moore, Michael entered the political arena as a candidate for the Democratic Party nomination. (Come to find out, he was the first openly gay candidate for statewide office in Alabama history.) Michael ultimately secured third place in a field of seven candidates.

Michael has always been a passionate advocate in a volunteer capacity in every community where he’s lived. In 2004, Michael created the Think Pink Holiday Gala, a dinner party that thousands of dollars for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation (now Komen for the Cure). He served with the Human Rights Campaign in Nashville from 2006–2007, helping to raise funds for local equality initiatives. Upon relocating to Birmingham, he joined the Board of Directors of Rites of Spring, a nonprofit organization created to raise money for AIDS service organizations. Michael helped establish Junior Boards at Oasis Counseling for Women and Children and the Community Food Bank of Central Alabama.

Michael served as a member of the Equality Alabama Board of Directors from 2013-2014 and as Board President from 2017 to 2018. Michael played an instrumental role in the passage of a non-discrimination ordinance in 2017 — a pioneering move that led to the establishment of the Birmingham Human Rights Commission. Birmingham was the first city in Alabama to pass a comprehensive non-discrimination ordinance.

Michael was a founding member of the Southeast Climate & Energy Network Board of Directors and is currently serving as board president. Michael is also vice-president of the Clean Water Fund Board of Directors, serving on the finance and anti-racism committees. He was also a co-founder of Arm in Arm.

Michael’s journey has been a tapestry woven with more than a decade of experience in business management, strategic marketing communications, and nonprofit leadership. Combining his academic endeavors and professional experiences, he’s garnered extensive training in the realms of public health, air quality, climate change, and environmental protection.