In part one of this interview, Mike Shaver talks about why he believes leading in the non-profit sector can offer greater challenges than leading a for-profit organization. He also shares lessons he learned during his first CEO post, when he successfully led his team through a major reorganization of a $120 million-a-year business. Before Mike’s involvement, it was believed the organization had an uncertain future.

Mike is a longtime advocate for children and a recognized leader in the child welfare field. He believes in strategic collaboration and in using research, evidence, and data to develop, deliver, and analyze innovative practices and programs to ensure children and families receive only effective, quality services. He has extensive experience in developing collective impact strategies.

Mike served as the President & CEO of Children’s Home Society of Florida from 2014 to 2019. He joined the agency after seven years as the Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President of Children’s Home & Aid. He earned an MA in Public Policy from the University of Chicago, Irving B. Harris School of Public Policy and a BA in Political Science from Colorado College.

Children’s Home & Aid is a leading child and family service agency in Illinois. They help children recover their health, their hope, and their faith in the people around them.

The organization links children to a network of opportunity and care, to extended family, teachers, mentors, and the resources of their neighborhood and community. For 135 years, Children’s Home & Aid has gone wherever children and families need them, and where their work has been proven to be most effective: at home, in the classroom, in the neighborhood, in the course of daily life. Their offices are located across Illinois and serve more than 40,000 children and families each year in over 60 counties.