Michael founded SEEDR L3C in 2009 and serves as its managing director. Prior to SEEDR, Michael was co-founder and strategy director of a technology consulting firm in Atlanta where he led a multidisciplinary team in developing R&D and commercialization strategies for early-stage, technology-oriented social enterprises in fields ranging from materials science, water treatment, biotechnology, building construction, financial services, and IT. He also served in key roles for portfolio companies and joint-venture partners, which included time as a strategist for an affordable housing finance and development firm in the Dominican Republic. Over the past five years, Michael has consulted businesses, nongovernmental organizations, universities, and governments on public-private partnership, technology transfer, and innovation strategies. He is a regular lecturer at Georgia Tech and has been recognized for his public policy research on the relationships among social enterprise business models, technology, and economic development. Michael began his career in development locally with Community Investment Services at the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta. He received a B.S. with Highest Honor from the Georgia Institute of Technology and has studied strategy at the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) in Washington D.C.

Dr. William B. Rouse is the Executive Director of the Tennenbaum Institute at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is also a professor in the College of Computing and School of Industrial and Systems Engineering. Rouse has written hundreds of articles and book chapters, and has authored many books, including most recently People and Organizations: Explorations of Human-Centered Design (Wiley, 2007), Essential Challenges of Strategic Management (Wiley, 2001) and the award-winning Don’t Jump to Solutions (Jossey-Bass, 1998). He is editor of Enterprise Transformation: Understanding and Enabling Fundamental Change (Wiley, 2006), co-editor of Organizational Simulation: From Modeling & Simulation to Games & Entertainment (Wiley, 2005), co-editor of the best-selling Handbook of Systems Engineering and Management (Wiley, 1999, 2008), and editor of the eight-volume series Human/Technology Interaction in Complex Systems (Elsevier). Among many advisory roles, he has served as Chair of the Committee on Human Factors of the National Research Council, a member of the U.S. Air Force Scientific Advisory Board, and a member of the DoD Senior Advisory Group on Modeling and Simulation. Dr. Rouse is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, as well as a fellow of four professional societies – Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE), the Institute for Operations Research and Management Science, and the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. He received his B.S. from the University of Rhode Island, and his S.M. and Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.