Citizen of the World | Institutes

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The Aspen Institute is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1950 as the Aspen Institute of Humanistic Studies. The organization is dedicated to "fostering enlightened leadership, the appreciation of timeless ideas and values, and open-minded dialogue on contemporary issues." The institute and its international partners promote the pursuit of common ground and deeper understanding in a nonpartisan and nonideological setting through regular seminars, policy programs, conferences, and leadership development initiatives. The institute is headquartered in Washington, D.C., USA, and has campuses in Aspen, Colorado (its original home) and near the shores of the Chesapeake Bay at the Wye River in Maryland. It has partner Aspen Institutes in Berlin, Rome, Lyon, Tokyo, New Delhi, and Bucharest, as well as leadership initiatives in the United States and in Africa, India, and Central America.

Michael, as a Liberty Fellow, is a part of the Aspen Global Leadership Network (AGLN) sponsored by the Aspen Institute.  As an Aspen Global Fellow, he has plans to travel over the next two years to South Africa, South America (Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua) and to the Far East (Thailand and Hong Kong) to reconnect with other Aspen Global Fellows from the previously mentioned areas that he met during his participation in “The Era of Globalization” seminar in Amman (Dead Sea), Jordan in February 2011.

People to People Citizen Ambassador Law Institutes

On February 23, 2010, Michael received a letter from Gregg Herman, past Chair of the American Bar Association Family Law Section, inviting Michael, who has served for over a decade as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (Guardian Ad Litem) on the behalf of the interests of juveniles in our court system, to be a part of a special delegation.  The invitation was for Michael to serve as a Citizen Ambassador for the People to People Rule of Law Institute to Vietnam and Cambodia that October 2010.  This invitation ignited Michael’s interest as serving as an Ambassador for other such institutes for the People to People Citizen Ambassador Program in Law.

“Lawyers in the United States tend to get caught up in their local legal scene. It's good for us to go out and see the challenges experienced by our counterparts in other countries such as Cambodia, which has only 400 lawyers for 13 million people in a country recovering from genocide. Whether their country stands or falls will depend in part on the strength and legitimacy of the legal system they are struggling to put in place. We, as individuals, really can make a difference just by sitting down one on one and exchanging ideas that may help move that process forward."

– Richard Pena, Board of Governors, American Bar Association, and long-time People to People Citizen Ambassador delegation leader


In December 2011, Michael will serve as an Ambassador as a part of the Rule of Law Delegation to Rwanda.  In May 2012, Michael plans on serving as an Ambassador as a part of the Rule of Law Delegation to China.