W. Michael Short
Founder
Award-winning entrepreneur and founder of several university, foundation, and investor-backed economic and community development initiatives, startups, public/private partnerships, and philanthropic ventures involving hundreds of universities and community colleges, hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs and small businesses, and the largest network of community banks, credit unions, non-profit lenders, CDFIs, and funding sources in the U.S.
Featured as a Forbes Editors’ Pick for “leveling the playing field for small business," at the White House for economic impact and job creation, by Syracuse University for leading a “multibillion-dollar economic impact,” in “What’s Working: Small Business” by Huffington Post and Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Initiative, in the Business and Management Review for socially responsible “FinTech Innovation," at the New York Stock Exchange, at the Clinton Global Initiative, and by CBS News Radio Small Business Spotlight for making “economics and finance interesting, fun, and understandable [by offering] entrepreneurs an array of funding options so they can avoid predatory lenders.”
Mr. Short also serves as the Managing Director of the International Innovators Initiative (IN2NYC) at Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York (CUNY), which is operated in partnership by the City of New York, the City University of New York, and the New York City Economic Development Corporation. IN2NYC works to recruit the world’s best, brightest, and most promising entrepreneurs to relocate and create jobs in NYC.
Mr. Short also serves as President of the Global Social Enterprise Institute (GSEI), which he founded while serving as the inaugural Social Entrepreneur in Residence at LeMoyne College's Center of Excellence for Global Engagement & Impact.
Other previous professional experiences include authoring the City of Syracuse's Community Literacy Action Plan, revitalizing abandoned inner-city properties, spearheading the largest privately implemented green infrastructure projects in Onondaga County with over a million dollars in committed funding, and implementing strategic planning efforts for clients resulting in over $5 million in development related grants, incentives, and equivalents for a diverse array of clients pursuing projects addressing social, environmental, & community challenges.
After graduating with honors from a dual enrollment program at Syracuse University’s #1 ranked S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and #1 ranked Maxwell School of Citizenship & Public Affairs, Mr. Short was selected as a Syracuse University Community Engagement Scholar with support from the Kauffman Foundation, the Gifford Foundation, & Imagining America to live, work, and contribute to economic and entrepreneurial development efforts in a community with the highest levels of poverty concentration in the U.S.
