Mike Ross
Founder & Executive Director, Future Forward Education
Bio
Mike was born and raised in Vermont where he spent his childhood. He had a passion for creativity and attended a Center for Technology during high school to compliment that passion. A child of Autism and with learning difficulties, this program enabled him to understand our world a little more through "learning by doing". Eventually, he realized the countryside was not the best place to express himself creatively.
He moved to Los Angeles where he continued to attend college and spent a couple years continuing with his studies. Over time, as he ventured out into the city, he was "discovering" parts of community that he never had to see growing up; communities facing adversity, crime, poverty and other issues. He could not help but to reflect on this and would compare it to his seemingly harmonious upbringing. So, he spent time volunteering at other local nonprofits but was barely able to produce the results he wanted to as a volunteer. Due to this, he had a revelation to build his own youth and education-focused organization.
For the past 8 years, he has been studying academics and pedagogy so that he can better understand the problems in education and form solutions that can scale over time so that the next generation can experience a system with less foundational fractures and more academic integrity.
As of recently, Mike has been recognized for his work and has earned accolades such as Top Creative Leader of the Year by the International Association of Top Professionals, Visionary Entrepreneur of the Year by CIO Global, an award for Excellence in Education by the Education 2.0 Conferences, an Honorary Doctorate for the Advanced Studies in Education and many others.
Today, Mike continues to use his creativity for social impact work in hopes of creating positive change in our communities.
Personal Quote:
“True creativity isn't just about making art; it's about making a difference. My journey is about using creativity and education as tools to shape a future where everyone has the opportunity to thrive. - Mike Ross”