Stephen Michon
Managing Director
A Managing Director at FutureWorks, Mr. Michon leads regional economic and workforce development projects for cities, regions, and national initiatives. In the past year he has worked with the American Chamber of Commerce Executives to spearhead an initiative that trains and builds practical knowledge for 40 chamber executives to address new regional and development patterns in metropolitan America. The seeds to this initiative were built through two other projects for which Mr. Michon either led or supported -- Minding Their Civic Business – a national initiative analyzing the changing role of business leadership along the lines of regionalism and equity in 30 large metros – and MetroBusinessNet – a Ford Foundation-sponsored project. Final products for these projects included a nationally-released report, speaking and presentation engagements across the country, and follow-up technical assistance to chief executives of business-led organizations.
Mr. Michon has worked in senior positions for national leaders in the field of economic and workforce development. He has worked as a Senior Associate for Mt. Auburn Associates and a Senior Research Associate for Workforce Learning Strategies, both consulting organizations working on regional strategies in areas as varied as large metro areas like Boston to rural areas in upstate New York to counties in Florida to small cities in Missouri.
In his work Mr. Michon has developed expertise in the evaluation of economic and workforce development programs. He has led evaluation projects for the State of Maine, Fleet Charitable Trusts in Boston, the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, and Coastal Enterprises Inc. in Maine, to name a few. Other national evaluation projects have been for the U.S. Department of Labor (evaluation of the State System Building Grant program) and U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration (evaluation of EDA’s University Center program).
Mr. Michon also has worked extensively with non-profit organizations to build wealth and opportunity in their communities and for their clients. He is currently developing an employment toolkit for the national Corporation for Supportive Housing and is engaged in ongoing work analyzing family economics for the Children’s Alliance of New Hampshire. Prior to his consulting work, he held positions of deputy director and executive director in the field of nonprofit community development corporations.
He is the author of several reports, the last of which was It Takes a Region to Raise a New Economy: How Business Leadership is Driving Regional Prosperity. He graduated with a master’s degree from Tufts University’s Graduate School of Urban & Environmental Policy and Planning. He has also twice served in New Hampshire’s General Court and on the State-Federal Relations and Veterans Affairs Committee where he was involved in writing legislation to maintain high-wage, high-growth businesses and promoting livable wage jobs.
