Committed to making economic development visions a reality, Michael Kane has been a practitioner as well as researcher in the community and economic development field for more than 25 years. He specializes in regional economic development planning, sector analysis and organizing, and positioning higher educational institutions to better capitalize on their economic and workforce development assets.

Since joining Mt. Auburn in 1992, Michael has led more than 20 strategic economic development planning efforts on the neighborhood, municipal, and regional levels, researching and analyzing more than a dozen economic sectors as part of that process. An authority in workforce development program evaluation, Michael has drawn on his expertise to develop workforce training programs for welfare recipients, underemployed, and incumbent workers with several community colleges.

Michael played an integral role in developing Mt. Auburn’s deep expertise in the Creative and Cultural Economy. Michael was a key architect of several recent reports and plans prepared by Mt. Auburn Associates, including: The Creative Economy Initiative: The Role of Arts and Culture in New England’s Economic Competitiveness, The Creative Engine: How Arts & Culture is Fueling Economic Growth in New York City Neighborhoods, The Economic Role & Impact of Lincoln Center, Inc., and Louisiana: Where Culture Means Business.

Prior to joining the firm, he worked for the Massachusetts Government Land, a quasi-public state agency that successfully used commercial and industrial development as a tool to revitalize small cities and neighborhoods in the state. Also, in the mid-1980s, he was the director of a regional economic development project that was one of the first efforts to use a sector organizing approach to building and strengthening a regional economy. Michael holds a Master of Education from Boston University.