Episode 12 with Michael Crawford

My guest today is Michael Crawford, the Chief Academic Officer of the Entrepreneurial Learning Initiative (ELI), where he drives the development, delivery, and curation of program curriculum and content. ELI is an education company dedicated to redefining entrepreneurship and helping to empower people through the development of an entrepreneurial mindset. Their curriculum, the Ice House Entrepreneurship Program, is being utilized at several community colleges and small business development centers, both in the US and in Latin America. Michael believes entrepreneurial thinking is what is needed in education today and feels that entrepreneurs have a mindset that allows them to identify problems in their environment, to take action, to test possible solutions, and then ultimately to manifest something that will provide value for other people.

Building upon more than seven years of facilitation and scholarship in the fields of psychology, education, and human development, Michael combines theory and praxis from multiple disciplines to ground ELI’s work in sound practice and research. Prior to joining ELI, Michael served as the Assessment Coordinator for Kauffman Scholars, Inc., a college access and scholarship program supported by the Kauffman Foundation, where he led all organizational data activities, including planning, analyzing, and reporting, to promote increased and effective usage of research and data across all departments. While there, he co-created and co-facilitated StartupScholars, an innovative internship program that connected companies seeking resources and high-school and college students seeking work experience in a mutually-beneficial learning and employment opportunity.

Michael has extensive qualitative and quantitative research experience, having worked as a Research Assistant at the Center for Educational Testing and Evaluation at the University of Kansas, as the Project Coordinator for the United Way of Greater Kansas City Out-of-School Time Quality Matters Project in Kansas City, and as a Research Assistant at the Institute for the Study of Youth Sports at Michigan State University. His writing has been published in academic journals and edited books, and he has been an invited speaker, presenter, and facilitator at conferences and seminars.

Michael earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Michigan, a Master of Science in Sport Psychology from Michigan State University, and is currently a PhD Candidate in Educational Psychology at the University of Kansas. In his free time, he loves spending time with his wife, son, and dog. He also enjoys reading whatever he can get his hands on.