Consulting

Inclusion that survives contact with finance, legal, and the board.

Strategic DEIA advisory for executive teams that need the work to hold up under real scrutiny. Twenty years of practice, more than twenty-five thousand professionals reached through learning programs, more than five hundred consulting engagements behind the approach. The conversation starts with a qualified call, not a calendar link.

Start a conversation See the three pathways

Before you inquire

Who Michael actually works with, and who he doesn't.

The work is candid by design. If the right-hand column describes the conversation you want to have, better to know up front. The discovery call is built so both sides can answer the question honestly.

A fit for

Executive teams that want the work to stand up.

  • CEO, CHRO, or board sponsor is personally accountable for the outcome, not just for funding it.
  • The organization is willing to measure DEIA in the same numbers it uses for everything else: cost, risk, productivity, retention.
  • Finance is at the table early. The strategy needs to survive a CFO's questions, not avoid them.
  • Leadership is comfortable with candid advice, including being told a beloved initiative is theatre.
  • The mandate is multi-year, not a single workshop or a press release.
  • Sector or regulatory pressure means there is real downside to getting this wrong, not just upside to getting it right.

Not a fit for

Organizations looking for cover, not change.

  • Procurement-led searches whose primary success metric is the lowest bid.
  • One-off "we need a workshop after the incident" requests with no strategy behind them.
  • Leaders who want a deck they can show to the board, not a strategy they have to defend.
  • Organizations that have already decided the answer and are shopping for an advisor who will agree.
  • Engagements where the brief is "make DEIA quieter" or "scale this back without saying so."
  • Anyone expecting Michael to put his name on work he would not defend in a hostile room.

How the work is structured

Three pathways into the practice.

Most engagements fit one of these three. Some combine two. The discovery call is where we figure out which.

01 · Strategic advisory

Strategic Advisory

CEO · CHRO · Board

Direct work with the executive sponsor on the DEIA strategy itself: what gets prioritized, what gets cut, what gets measured, and how the whole thing reads to finance, legal, and the audit committee. Output is a strategy your CFO will sign off on and your general counsel will not unwind.

Typical scope includes a current-state read, executive interviews, a written strategy with explicit trade-offs, and a data and measurement framework so leadership knows what changed and what did not. Engagements often extend into ongoing advisory through the first year of execution. Not a deck. A working document the leadership team can defend in a hostile room.

Duration
Three to twelve months
Best for
New CHRO, post-incident response, M&A, board-mandated review
Engagement model
Fixed scope or monthly retainer
Deliverables
Strategy document, measurement framework, executive briefings
Discuss an advisory engagement →

02 · Education & programs

Education & Programs

All-staff · Manager · Executive

Custom-built DEIA learning for entire organizations, from the all-staff foundation through to the C-suite. Programs are built around the framework from Birds of All Feathers, shaped to your sector, your risk profile, and your population. Designed for retention, not vibes.

Formats range from an all-staff DEIA primer rolled out across thousands of employees, to a multi-session manager program, to a year-long ERG leader cohort, to a single executive briefing. One-to-one executive coaching is available alongside the group programs for senior leaders carrying the work personally. Every program is anchored in measurement. Catalogue keynotes are also available on the Talks page for one-off events.

Duration
Single session to twelve-month cohort
Best for
All-staff DEIA primer, manager capability, ERG leader development, board education, executive coaching
Engagement model
Per-program fixed fee
Deliverables
Custom curriculum, facilitator delivery, measurement, follow-on resources
Scope a program →

03 · Embedded fractional

Embedded Fractional

Interim CDO · CDO backstop

A senior practitioner inside the organization on a fractional basis: a few days a month, sitting in the leadership meetings, attending board prep, running point on the harder conversations. Useful when you do not have a Chief Diversity Officer and the work cannot wait for a hire, or when the CDO you do have needs a senior backstop.

The relationship is closer than advisory and lighter than a permanent role. Michael acts as part of the team for the duration: candid in private, aligned in public, accountable to the CEO or CHRO. The arrangement ends when the organization is ready to carry the work on its own.

Duration
Six to eighteen months
Best for
Interim DEIA leadership, CDO transition, fast-growth scale-up, regulated industry
Engagement model
Monthly retainer, defined commitment per month
Deliverables
Embedded presence, governance contribution, transition plan
Explore a fractional arrangement →

How an engagement starts

No calendar link. A real conversation first.

Every engagement starts with a qualified call. Wrong-fit organizations find out before either side commits anything. Right-fit organizations get a written scope inside two weeks.

  1. Step 01

    Inquiry

    You write in with the situation as it actually is, not in marketing language. Forty-five minutes of Michael's time on a discovery call within five business days.

  2. Step 02

    Qualification

    Honest read on whether this is a fit. If it is not, Michael will say so on the call and, where possible, suggest a better-suited practitioner. No proposal theatre.

  3. Step 03

    Written scope

    Within two weeks, a written scope with the work to be done, the deliverables, the timeline, the team needed from your side, and the fee. Defendable to finance and procurement.

  4. Step 04

    Engagement

    The work begins. Standing leadership check-ins, written progress, candid conversations when something is off course. Same posture from day one through closeout.

Track record

Two decades of practice, on four continents.

Client names are kept confidential by default. The work has spanned Fortune 100 employers, global professional services firms, government, and regulated industries.

20+

years advising leaders on diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility.

500+

consulting engagements across strategy, education, and embedded leadership.

4

continents of client work, with practitioners reached in dozens of countries.

3

best-selling books on inclusion at work, plus Cornell-certified DEI credentials.

Tell me what is actually going on.

Forty-five minutes, no calendar link, no proposal theatre. By the end of the call we both know whether to keep going.

Start a conversation About Michael