B-Schooled Podcast Episode #288: Michael Rosenband of Requity Foundation

Stacy Blackman: Welcome to B-Schooled, the podcast by Stacy Blackman Consulting. This series is called Paths Less Traveled. In it, I’m sitting down with MBA grads whose paths evolved over time in unexpected ways. These are conversations about optionality, reinvention, and what’s really possible when you stop thinking about the MBA as a first job and start thinking about it as a foundation. Let’s get into it.

Today, I am sitting here with Mike Rosenband, who is the founder and executive director of Requity Foundation, a Baltimore-based nonprofit and social enterprise that develops young talent through paid real world workforce pathways and construction, culinary arts, media and business.

Founded in 2020 as an outgrowth of his work turning around the Carver Vocational Technical High School baseball program. Requity has since engaged 250 students in work-based learning and won the 2024 US Department of Energy Community Innovation Prize Grand Prize. Michael was an open society foundation Baltimore community fellow and a Warnock social innovation fellow.

Above all, he is the father of Toby, a high school senior whose growth reminds him daily that opportunity, accountability, and belief in young people are personal commitments. He earned a BA from the University of Pennsylvania with me and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management also with me. And here you are with me once again.

Okay. So you are founder of the Requity Foundation. You’re transforming lives in Baltimore, but we are here to talk about your path and all the moves and decisions that led you to where you are now. So let’s start at the beginning. What were you doing after college, pre-business school?

Michael Rosenband (02:17): After college … Well, Stacy, it’s wonderful to be here. Thanks for asking to share and come up with you. So as you recall, it was a tougher job market in 1993. At least that was how I remembered it. I think I had two offers.

One was to sell insurance in Philadelphia, and then the other was to, it was an opportunity in Boston and Cambridge to work for an executive education company around technology. And I thought that was interesting. I didn’t know much about it. And so it was a great two-year experience. I got to travel the world. And then at that point, I’d kind of felt like I had experienced all I could.

And I picked up and drove across country and moved to Los Angeles and was going to try to write a book that never happened. But I found my way into a sister division of … We have a family business and it had merged with a larger family business and there was a division out in South Central Los Angeles in manufacturing.

And so, I started to do that work. And it was through that work that I got excited about that kind of work, manufacturing business. And in undergrad, I was in the liberal arts school, college, and I thought that it might make sense to try and get some business experience. And so it was that experience that led me to apply to Kellogg. And I only applied to Kellogg.

I had gotten, I think, six different applications and read all the essays. And the Kellogg essays were the only ones that I felt resonated with me that I could answer meaningfully. And so I applied to Kellogg and fortunately got in and had a wonderful experience there.

Stacy (04:01): Yeah. The rest is history. So can you remember specifically things that you were hoping to gain from that Kellogg experience? Like you said, business knowledge, but were there specific skills or things you were hoping to pick up?

Michael: Yes. So having worked in business and then having had a liberal arts education, I was a political science major. And I never really had a formal education. I took a few different Wharton classes. And so I think just understanding business functions, I just didn’t know a ton about it. And so I think looking for a more formal business education and specifically with Kellogg, it was clear that there was a team oriented philosophy or a way that the experience was executed and that was appealing to me.

I also was at a time in my life where I wanted to go back and work for the family business in that particular division. And so I thought that was clear in my essays that I wanted to, if there was opportunity to learn about how to run or be a part of family business, if there’s any sort of formal education around that.

So that was another reason that I decided to go back.

Stacy (05:25): And did you find that at Kellogg, the family business element? Because I know, I mean, myself working with so many clients over the years, a lot of them are coming from family business.

Michael: So, I think when I got there and I was always in touch with my father, I grew up on the south side of Chicago, so I was able to stay fairly closely connected to my parents throughout the process, at least in the first year. And as you start to go through your first year and then there’s opportunity to apply for summer internships, I always thought that I was just going to go work for the family business.

And as I was talking with my father, he says, wow, it really sounds like from what you’re sharing, there’s just so much opportunity out there. I don’t know if there’s any rush to this. Maybe you go out and experience what is being made available to you and take it from there. And so I had a summer internship with SC Johnson, lived in Milwaukee. And I think at that point I realized I do want to see what else is out there.

And so, I didn’t focus on that aspect of it. I focused more about how do I round out a business school, business experience, education, and let that take me to wherever I might. And then eventually over time come back to the family business with not only the formal school education, but also a different business experience with that education.

Stacy (06:49): Okay. So you graduate Kellogg. What, just in a nutshell, your experience there, highs, surprises, anything of note from your time at Kellogg?

Michael: Oh, well, it was a magical place. I think that certainly, I made the comment earlier about applying to a school where the essays resonated with me. And I think that that probably attract similar kinds of people. Not that people didn’t … They weren’t from all over the world and having different experiences, but I felt like there was just a common decency and shared desire to contribute to an environment. It’s not about what you are going to get out of it, but what you can put into it. And I think that helped to truly make it special.

And so certainly the lifelong friends that we were talking about before we got on and the opportunities that it led to, and certainly some of the professors, I mean, just creating a different kind of mindset about how you approach problems in the world. And so I can’t say enough about what an incredible life-changing experience Kellogg business school was.

Stacy (08:02): Yes, agree. You’re saying what I say all the time. It’s just, you got to do it to really feel it. It’s more than just a stats class or a final…That’s kind of the barely what it is. So totally agree. Okay. So post MBA, what did Michael Rosenband do? You were in LA.

Michael (08:33): I was. So I went back to LA. I applied and got in from LA and then I wound up getting a job at Mattel and I was excited about the opportunity. I think at the time there were six slots and four were filled from summer internships. And so there were two slots left and I got one of the two slots. And I think that my expectation, I think I was … It just wasn’t what I thought it would be. I think working for a toy company, I thought there would be- It

Stacy: Sounded more fun than it was. Working with toys. It sounds like more fun than it is.

Michael (09:21): Thank you for helping me navigate that. Yeah. I honestly don’t think it was the right fit. So it was one of those … I’m sometimes one of those people that when I can get a gut feel and I didn’t get a great gut feel the second … The interviewing was fine, but once I started, it was tough. And so I was there four months and then-

Stacy: Oh, wow. What brand were you on?

Michael: So, I started with Disney Movie Properties, and then I moved to Hot Wheels tracks and play sets.

And I think primarily is that what I was most excited about was that it was positioned as a talent development program where we rotate among different business functions. And Mattel was going through a difficult time, and so they canceled that program. So I think that was probably one of the big things that weighed into partly not meeting what I was hoping it would meet in terms of expectations.

So, four months in, and we had some classmates that were out there, Rod Stoddard, Michael McFarland, who were starting a business in the internet space. And it was 2000. So as you know, that was an exciting time. And so I was there and I was very close to where that work was happening. And so I joined them for a bit to try to …

We were looking to, I don’t know if you remember, we were looking to Orod’s idea to try to, this idea that celebrity drives fashion, and that if you’re watching a television show like Friends and you really like what one of the character is wearing, you would have an opportunity to buy that online.

It was a wonderful experience to go through and try to figure out the economics and whether or not it was worth it and quickly jumping on planes to try to present and going after this excitement in the desk.com. So I was glad to have participated in even for a short time. From there, I moved back to Chicago and at that point decided to join the family business. And so again, my grandfather had started it and had sold it to this larger parent group, also a family business. And our division did well.

And then when September 11th happened and retail shut down, the company filed for bankruptcy and through that experience, I had been a part of the reorganization, the restructuring, and had a skillset then that my friend who was working for a private equity firm said that they were looking to build out an operations team.

And so, after a time, I think it was a four-year period working in the family with Chicago with all that change, I moved to New York City and went to work for Service Capital Management and Private Equity on an operations team that they were building out. I did that for four years, incredibly challenging and rewarding. And that ended in 2008, nine during the financial crisis. I wasn’t on the deal side, so I was not bringing deals to the table. So I lasted for as long as I could.

And then when that ended, I started to look for some other financial type roles, and it just physically didn’t feel good. I mentioned earlier, a lot of times I’m very much gut driven. And so, at that time, my wife Dori at the time said, “Well, you love working with young people, you’ve talked about coaching, maybe explore that.”

And so, I sent 10 letters out to high schools asking to volunteer as a football coach. And one school got back to me. It was a vocational and technical high school in the South Bronx and I committed to be a volunteer coach at this high school. And it was in that process that I started to, for myself, connect some more meaningful opportunity around working with young people, just having had this very intensive business experience, asking questions about what was being taught at the vocational high school level and coaching.

And so I really wasn’t sure what all that meant, but another one of our classmates, Chris Doherty, was in Baltimore and I was just exploring, reaching out to the network, which is something that another …

You make such amazing friends and connections at business school and to be able to pick up the phone and say, “Hey, this is what I’m thinking.” And not even having it fully thought through, Chris Doherty says, “Well, from what you’re saying, there’s a lot of opportunity in Baltimore.” And so it really wasn’t much more than that, that I decided to … I convinced my wife with the time to pick up with our two-year-old and move to Baltimore and moved here cold, and that was in 2010.

Stacy (14:22): Wow. Power of persuasion for you. Well, a couple things. I think that a lot of people who are applying to business school, and I think I was like this a little bit, you kind of think, “Oh God, GMAT and essays, and I got to get in, I got to get in. And once I get in, I’m in. I’m done. I’m good.” And that is so not true because it doesn’t matter where you go. I mean, the bar keeps getting higher, right? You go to Kellogg, you’re with all these amazing people.

It’s collaborative and team-based, and you’re still competing against them for certain jobs. And sometimes the path isn’t so linear, but the beauty of it is in those twists and turns. The job for you ending in New York, maybe at that moment was a blow, but it forced you to really reflect and think about what’s important and meaningful to you and allowed you to get on this better path.

So anyway, I just think it’s great to be able to get real about this, that on the one hand, the MBA is so magical, and it is so valuable and it does pay dividends forever. And at the same time, it’s not like the magic potion, you always got to keep hustling and figuring out where you’re going and what you’re doing. And there are plenty of people out there sitting on very impressive degrees and that’s kind of it. So anyway, okay. So you moved to Baltimore. What happens then?

Michael (16:30): So instead of sending 10 resumes out, I sent one resume out and I was very targeted to a historic high school in West Baltimore. It’s the oldest of its kind in Maryland and third oldest in the country and second that’s still running and to coach football. And I thought that was a way to start the process. And it still wasn’t clear to me what the work was going to be.

So, I think I remember reading somewhere, I think it was a Harvard study that found that I think they tracked 50 or 100 students and 100 followed their passion and 100 followed sort of the traditional track. And I think in the end, they found that those that followed their passion were ultimately more fulfilled, whether that’s financially or just personally.

Stacy (17:17): Well, and I love the quote, it’s Rumi. It’s something like, “As you begin to walk the way, the way appears.” So it’s like you didn’t have to know exactly what the plan was. You just needed to take that one step and then as you continue, the path opened up.

Michael: Yes. So I get an interview and I was actually offered a job, the offensive coordinator position, which I did not go to school. I didn’t feel qualified for that. And I had some social commitments. So I said, “I think I just want to be a volunteer.” And so in that role, I became the wide receivers coach, which I don’t know if you remember, but I played sprint football at Penn and I played football longer. So that was my position, so it made sense.

And it just so happened that the wide receivers also played baseball. And it was a great season, season ends. And then I get a call from the athletic director, I think the wide receivers, the baseball players were in the background, this was in January of 2012, asking me if I would consider becoming the head baseball coach.

Stacy (18:42): It’s that charm.

Michael: Yeah. And while this was happening, I was making observations. So for example, when work was being done at the school, masonry work, for example, and I knew some of the kids I coached were in masonry. And I would ask, “Are you guys involved in the repair?” And so they weren’t involved. And at a minimum, I would’ve thought that they would be observing the work that was happening because it’s real world work. We’re studying these trades and this is what we’re going to do when we graduate. And so that was sort of in the back of my mind.

But when I was offered the job, the athletic director said, “To be clear, there’s no budget. We do not have a home field. We cannot get you to the field except on game days. And you’re going to be coaching young people that have never even put a glove on or had a baseball in their hand or swung a bat.”

And so I had this wisdom of all these years of experience and thinking about engaging … We talked about team-based collaboration and so I said, “Okay.” I said, “I will take this job, but this is a vocational high school and I will facilitate and coach, but we are all going to … ” And by all, I mean the students, we are all going to figure out these challenges together.

And so, we really set out in the very beginning that this is going to be a learning … If we’re going to play and compete in baseball, we’re going to have to work hard to get to that point. And so the first thing I did was I started to teach Excel because we needed to take inventory. And so thinking about spreading information on columns and rows. And so every time there was work to be done or a decision made, I made sure that the students weren’t involved and facilitated getting to decisions.

So, for example, we inherited a team, they didn’t win it. They were 0 in 13 the year before, and so we lacked equipment. I started to build some positivity around language. And so we talked about practice winning, and it was a way to address, are we practicing winning right now? Are you practicing winning on the field in the classroom with your friends?

And so, they held me accountable too and said, Coach Mike, you’re telling us to practice winning, but we’re not even practicing on a baseball field. We were like in a cramped corner in between the football field and there is a softball field, but the softball field was being used. And so they said, Coach Mike, which is what they call me, you’re telling us to practice winning and we don’t have a field of practice on. So, I said, okay.

So, we all got in a room, and I never wanted money to be an issue, particularly in the area where we work, which is under-resourced. And so I said, the money that I make, which is about $4,000, and I had some extra dollars, I think I had like 5,000 saved up. So I said, “$9,000. That is our working capital.” We talked about what that is.

So, we’ve got to figure out what we’re going to do. And so eventually, the big challenge was getting to the field. And so it starts out, “Oh, we can run there, Coach Mike. Oh, can’t we? Who’s going to carry that? And who’s going to carry that on the way home? We can bike there. Where are we going to park?” So if money’s not an object, what’s possible? And so eventually you get to a vehicle. How big does that vehicle need to be? How many seats?

And so, we wind up driving to a suburb in between DC and Baltimore and bought a 15-passenger used van. And I let the kids negotiate and actually do the transaction. And that really helped me realize what it might take or what it does take for young people to self-actualize. I think we were five weeks into the season that just had the right resources, had the right facilitation and coaching and affirmation.

And it turned the season around. We wind up winning games in the playoff. We go to the Sweet 16 and it was a magical experience.

Stacy (22:44): Yeah, that’s amazing because it gives them ownership of, they’re not just learning the skills, they’re building that team. Yes. Such a cool lesson, just even broader for any organization, like giving people, not just giving tasks, but really getting them invested. I love that.

Michael: And the best answers are going to come from the people that are experiencing the challenges. And so Just as an example, we were slipping and realized that running around the bases, we were slipping. And I think one of the students said, “Could it be that we have football cleats on instead of baseball cleats?” And they’re structured a little bit differently.

And so we piled into the van and we went to a played against sports and we swapped our football cleats for baseball cleats. And so it was things like that. And I think it does help when you start to see success and how it’s measured. So winning, winning did help some of that. And we walked out-

Stacy (23:49): But even a win is like getting the vehicle. It’s not just winning the game.

Michael: Stacy, that is exactly right. And when we get back to the school every year, every game we get back to school, the first question that they’re always asked is, “Did you all win?” And we’ve changed that. And so what I’ve said is it doesn’t matter. We won, period, whether the outcome of the game does not matter.

What it took for us to get there and compete is a win. So that’s exactly the messaging. And then when the season ended, we had these self-actualized, energized young people who said, “This is great, Coach Mike. We’re winning in baseball. We’re figuring it out.

We realized that that’s just not how it’s supposed to be and we’re still not getting jobs.” So I’m a Mason, my buddy’s a carpenter, Terrell is studying electrical, and we’re not getting jobs. And we’re being told that we’re not getting these jobs, even though we come every day, and we get good grades, and we do all the things that are asked of us, because we don’t have real-world experience.

-So, it goes back to that observing the masonry work. And the district had gotten away from work-based learning or creating opportunities during the day when students can go out and actually work on real world jobs. And so as we know, it’s really important to apply what you’re learning in a classroom setting out in the real world because it’s never the same. You’re going to encounter more challenges.

And so, Sterling, his idea, this is one of the captains on that team, said, “The industry says we don’t have world experience. And yet we get off the bus every single day and look across the two blocks that border the school and out of the 20 houses, there are 10 that are vacant and dilapidating. Why can’t we not acquire these houses, walk over across the street, apply our trades, get the experience we need, help the community and put us in a position to get jobs?” And I was like, “You’re right, and let’s figure this out.”

And so that was in 2012. And so what I think I realized at this point, spending a lot of time in West Baltimore, particularly where I am, is that some of the challenges are so deep and so systemic, you need as many dollars, as much investment as possible to really start to make change. And so at that point, I realized that we were going to need to start a nonprofit. And when I was in business school, and I remember there was a major, PNP, and I’m like, first of all, what does that even mean, profit, nonprofit? It doesn’t even make sense to me.

So I thinking back about not necessarily knowing what you wanted to do or what you could have studied, I think without question, had I known this would have been in my path, I would have been in every one of those classes sucking up as much as I possibly could, but I still have access to it because of my relationship with Kellogg and I’m able to tap into a lot of the curriculum changes that have happened at the school.

But having said that, I said I still need to get smart in the nonprofit space. So I set up a consulting business and I started to provide business consulting to nonprofits and that helped me to get an understanding of how nonprofits work, where the dollars come from, terminology. And then I did that for four years.

And then when the pandemic hit in March of 2020, Sterling and I were talking and he is every bit a part of this journey since he came up with the idea, which has been not only makes for an authentic story, but it makes for a better outcome of what we’re doing because it is rooted in community.

But in 2020, we launched Requity and with this mission of breaking down these barriers between high school, vocational education and the workforce getting jobs. And we acquired our first house and we’re actually going to have the ribbon cutting on this house on Friday of this week.

Stacy (28:04): Oh my gosh.

Michael: Yeah. And we have since acquired four more houses. And you mentioned early on, we started in construction and we’ve started to evolve into culinary, into business and into media. But yeah, that’s-

Stacy: Wow. Yeah, that’s really inspiring. And I mean, it’s so cool the way it evolved and how you grew this. Okay. So you’re like six years in with Requity. Okay. I read, I guess in your bio, you called it a social enterprise as opposed to say a nonprofit. I don’t know if that’s like a concept.

Michael (28:53): Yeah. So we communicated as both. And the reason we do that is because I think what we’ve realized is that we’ve been successful winning grants at the local, the city level, the state level, and the federal level. We’ve had some very generous individual contributors. We’ve gotten some generous gifts from companies. And the reality is, just like any business, revenue and sales is the focus, is a priority.

And the more dollars we have, the more we can invest in our programming, the more houses we can acquire, the more kids can be a part of our programming. Again, I don’t know if I mentioned this, but we pay our young people. They get paid. We say this learning matters, the work you do matters, you matter. And so that’s a big piece of it. And at the same time, it continues to be a challenge to attract funding.

And so, we said, okay, the social enterprise piece of this, if we are developing skills and we are able to deliver services, then let’s take these to market. And so our culinary team does K … Turning. And last year we grew our catering from 3,000 the year before to 43,000 last year.

We have clients like Johns Hopkins and Harkins Builders, which is in town. So I think it’s because trades and unions and those pathways are lucrative and are certainly in today with language learning models and AI, it’s an opportunity where there’s going to be a future.

And at the same time, we want our young people to have a growth mindset and to think about you may be hammering nails now, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t be the person that develops the houses and hiring the next team of carpenters going to be doing the work.

And so, we always want to try to keep a business mindset in whatever it is we’re doing. And so even what you see here, our business team creates a branded apparel and not only for our own team, but we go out and we sell that. We have a photography, a media team, and so we get opportunities and contracts to do photography for companies.

And we’ve even done construction for some local developers. So, I think that’s just another piece of this, is we recognize that—to the extent we can—we need to generate our own revenue, too.

Stacy (31:19): Amazing. Okay. So the ribbon cutting on the house, what happens with that house?

Michael: Yeah. So one of the things that I remember in Professor Basenko’s class, it’s a make or buy decision…

Stacy: Yeah!

Michael: It’s wild what sticks with you.

Stacy: Totally.

Michael: So, we’re developing young talent. Home ownership, that’s a by decision for us. And so we are partnering with organizations that focus specialized in making housing affordable. So working through credit issues, identifying all the different incentives to make first time home buying possible. So there are different grants that are out there.

This first house, the plan is to sell it to Josh Tibbs and his mother. And Josh Tibbs is one of the students who probably put the most work in the house himself. He led the first student-led crew in the house. And so the idea is to build these houses and avail them to members on our team or people from the community to achieve home ownership in most cases, first-time homeownership.

Stacy (32:46): Okay. Now that I have the full scope of everything you’re doing, I’m truly especially appreciative that you took the time to talk with me today because you are wearing so many hats and making such an impact.

So, what is the day for you? Because I mean, it seems like there’s so much on your plate. How are you delegated? How are you managing all of this?

Michael (33:21): Yeah. So I think we’re finally at a point now, now you mentioned six years in. And I think as I shared, funding is a challenge. We had an article that ran the USA Today. We were on the front page on March 10th. And so we’ve done a great job in press and I think people are starting to appreciate and see what it is we’re doing. And so we’re starting to get some additional support. And so we’re starting now to, as we are maturing as an organization, starting to think about setting it up in business functions.

And so, I mean, we’ve always talked about standard operating procedures and making sure that everything we do can be replicated. So not only on the other side of town in Baltimore, but if there’s a need in DC or Detroit or elsewhere to think about what this model is, how it can start in a way that’s manageable and then potentially grow.

I have a focus on revenue, however that’s coming in, I think also on quality of programming. And so we’re working to get our instructors certified in carpentry, working to get our students certified in carpentry. And initially, some of the barriers were transportation. And so we provide driver’s ed, so you can initially get your permit and eventually get your license.

We work with developing relationships with what we call pathway partners. So the opportunity to put our young people on pathways to get jobs, making sure we’re understanding what’s needed on that end. And so things like OSHA 10, OSHA 30, first aid, CPR certification. So make sure we build that into our programming.

We’ve gotten feedback. So we have the hard skills that we teach, but we also teach professional skills. We talk about, there’s a 3C model. It’s a derivative of a 5C youth development model, but I’m talking about competency, connection, and character. And it’s really a way to help young people prepare for the working world and thinking about how to take feedback in a way that’s constructive. What does on time mean if you’re in construction? If you need to be on the job site at seven, being on the job site at seven is being ready to go, not getting your boots out and tying them on.

And so, there’s some coaching that … So you’re constantly … And then at the same time, working with our partners, and if somebody worked really hard to get there at seven and they took three buses and one bus was late and they arrived because it’s soaking wet, to have some sort of build in some sort of empathy with our partners to say, Hey, we need to weave in some grace here.

We’re investing in our young people on this end. And I think there also needs to be investment on that end as well if ultimately we’re going to get to this return on investment we were talking about in a bigger picture. So I think it’s constantly trying to relay the empathy that’s needed. And I think some of the trauma that our young people experience, I mean, I couldn’t even have fathomed it in my growing up. And so I think it’s … And not excusing it, but just building an awareness around it. And at the same time, to continue to work with our young people to address it for them.

And then I think developing our own talent. How do we continue to make sure that our team is finding a rewarding place to be and they can feel like they can be innovative and grow. So if I’m tailing off a little bit, but we had an offsite recently and I used, I forget which class it was, but we learned about 3M and it was like Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing and how, first of all, the name.

And then thinking about how we’re going to eventually run out of stuff for mining. And so let’s take what we’re mining and see if we can. Exactly. And so we dedicate a certain percentage of our time to that. And so we’re starting to now build that in with our team. And what we learned in a discussion around quality of programming, our carpentry team is that we’re not always wearing our tool belts.

And so we dug into that a little bit and come to find out they’re cumbersome and they’re hard to work with and they bang. And so there was an idea around creating a pant that is a hybrid tool pant where you can actually put the carpentry tools in your … And it’s a cargo pant, but something that actually is a young person would want to wear. I mean, part of the challenge is the trades aren’t attractive to young people as the older generation is aging out. We got to figure out ways to attract young people.

And so we’re engaged in a project with Maryland Institute College of Art to prototype a work pant that is something that is comfortable, that keep the tools in the pockets, and also is something that a young person would want to wear. So I think it’s like keeping the energy and the excitement around and the culture.

Stacy (38:31): There’s like innovation everywhere in the most unexpected places. So amazing. Okay. So, in your bio, you have a personal note about your son, and I want to ask you, how does being a dad influence how you’re leading Requity?

Michael: I feel very fortunate, particularly the age he is now, because those are the young people I work with. And so I think when you are around young people … Well, number one, it kind of keeps me semi-cool because I get to understand the terminology, the phrases, the things that they wear-

Stacy: The music…

Michael (39:15): Right. So there is an element of that. And I think, again, just trying to be as empathic as possible helps me to see where a young person’s perspective might be and help to translate that as I’m communicating with Toby. And Toby has been a part of this West Baltimore experience and he’s been a very little boy. And he has come to me with me as I’ve coached.

He actually, when he decided he wanted to play baseball, every other baseball league in the city had closed off registration, but the one that’s near me, and the way that literally communicates it, it’s the oldest continuously running predominantly black little league in the entire country.

And my son was a part of that for two years. And so that kind of experience where he is effectively the only white player on the entire field, the entire league, I mean, he just wrote about it in his college essay, has helped to shape and provided a perspective for him.

And then he’s worked with us, he’s worked with Requity during the summer, and so that we have shared experiences there. And he’s gotten to know a lot of the kids that I’ve coached that have gone on and even some of the students that are there now. So it’s nice to have a rapport around people that we both know and have shared experience with. So I’d say that it’s definitely helped.

Stacy (40:45): And what a great thing to share with him and just be a role model. I think that’s beautiful actually. Thank you.

Michael: Thanks, Stacy.

Stacy: Okay. So you’ve been very generous with your time. I appreciate it, truly. And I’ll just wrap up with a couple of quick little fun questions.

Michael: I’m sorry to interrupt. Can I just say just one…So I know we’re very outcome driven at times. And so I do want to share that there have been two studies done that … So the most recent one was in 2023, and sorry to interrupt. The one that was in 2023 that found the graduates of Baltimore City vocational programs five years out can expect to earn $14,000. So far, we’ve placed 67 students and our students are averaging $48,000 a year, and that dollar continues to grow up. Wow. So I just want to put like, so, it’s working. It’s working.

Stacy (41:51): Amazing.

Michael: Okay, Stacy. Sorry, now I’m ready for the fun.

Stacy: Love it. Okay. I was going to say, is there anything else you want to add? I should have. I’m new at this podcasting thing. Okay. What’s more satisfying, coaching a game-winning home run or securing a major foundation grant?

Michael: So those are very good questions. I think that … Wow, I don’t know if a tie is an easy way out, but I’ll at least explain why. I think that knowing what it takes for us to get to a place we are competing and whether it’s needing specific resources or figuring out how we get to the field or even coalescing a team, we spend an hour getting back and forth to the field while most other teams are practicing.

So, I think when there is some sort of culmination and celebration and knowing that we’ve all worked hard and it’s all celebrated, I think that’s pretty rewarding. We won two city championships while I was a coach and it was a team effort.

And again, it’s not about the wins and losses, but just knowing what it took to get there. The grant is a similar kind of a thing. I think because of all of the effort that has gone into this, the fact that it was a student’s idea, and then we rallied around a student’s idea and have built this organization that has attracted talent from the community that promotes from within, that continues to impact people.

And for these foundations, in a lot of cases, they don’t even allow you to apply until three years after you’re running to be awarded a grant, particularly in a competitive environment like we’re now in, it’s incredibly rewarding and inspiring and says, let’s continue to do the work that we’re doing.

Stacy (43:53): Yeah. So you get a tie. I’ll let you. All right. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. What’s your best Kellogg memory?

Michael: Best Kellogg memory. Wow. Stacy, that’s tough. I’m thinking about, there’s so many things…

Stacy: …a good Kellogg memory. I mean, I’m sure I could dig up some pictures of you and crazy costumes.

Michael: Yeah. Yeah. Even though I said earlier that I was focused on the family business, I don’t think I truly knew what I wanted to do. And I think that one of the things that was important to me was that, and we talked about this, how, what can I bring to this environment? How do I bring my whatever it is

Stacy: Your special sauce.

Michael (44:59): Yeah, right. And so which leads me to Special K. And so the fact that I was able to participate, and I know it was just a one-time thing that happened this springtime of year, but I think to provide, even if it was a couple hours of some joy and entertainment …

Stacy: And what’s Special K?

Michael (45:20): Yeah. So Special K is a student written, produced, directed, acted performance that happens towards the end of the year. And it’s just this remarkable collection of all these students that are there for business and you find out that they can play instruments, they can dance, they can sing, they can act, they can write, they can direct. And it’s this really incredible production that’s put on. And I think it’s at least from the response you get from the crowd that it seems to be enjoyed. And I

Stacy: So fun!

Michael: Yeah, to have been a part of that and contributed to that. And I think because I really wasn’t sure where to add value just because I didn’t have full clarity on what it was I wanted to do, I think that to me felt like I was in some way contributing to the Kellogg experience for my classmates.

Stacy: Yeah. And we all enjoyed it.

Michael: Thanks, Stacy.

Stacy: Okay. Describe Requity in three words.

Michael: I think it’s hope, inspiration, and practicality.

Stacy (46:40): Love it. So good. I was thinking in my head, what would the words be? There’s a lot. Okay. I could keep asking you questions, but I think I’ll make that a wrap. Okay. You gave me a bunch of links that we’ll include in the show notes. Any final parting words? No pressure, but I want to make sure I didn’t leave anything out that you want to share.

Michael: Well, I want to thank you for the opportunity. I think I really appreciate being able to have the opportunity to reflect back on the experience that although it doesn’t feel so long ago, really was 27, 28, nine years ago. I’m looking at you and it’s almost like … I remember when I think my mom picked us up and we drove to came to my house.

And so, I think it’s just wonderful to be able to share, have the familiarity and comfort I do with you and to be able to ask such thoughtful questions about work that’s so meaningful to me and to be able to share it. And if it in some way is inspiring to others, I’m grateful to have had that opportunity. So I just want to say thank you. I was looking forward to this.

Stacy (48:01): Oh my gosh. Thank you. And honestly, obviously I knew what you were doing, but it’s amazing. It is so inspiring. And I think that you can just see how much it means to you. And it’s like giving gives back to you. It’s so cliched, but it’s true. I mean, what you’re doing is incredible. So congratulations. I can’t wait to see what’s next.