Michael Margolis is a pioneer in the fields of brand storytelling and pop anthropology. As the President and founder of THIRSTY-FISH, Michael provides strategic story solutions to organizations in the midst of strategic shifts. He offers a decade of experience across the realms of brand storytelling, organizational change, and cultural innovation.

Michael is a contributing author to the leading compendium on strategic storytelling, Wake Me Up When the Data is Over: How Organizations Use Stories to Drive Results (Jossey-Bass, 2006), author of the blog PopAnthropology.com, and a traveling keynote speaker. Previously, Michael co-founded and helped lead two social enterprises in the areas of public service, workforce development, and corporate technology.

An outspoken proponent of the Talent Economy, Michael’s work has been recognized by Fast Company Magazine, Silicon Alley Reporter, Los Angeles Business Journal, and Hawaii Community Television. In 2001, the American Society for Training & Development’s T&D Magazine, profiled Michael as one of “Training’s New Guard” for the new millennium. Michael’s formal studies include a bachelor’s degree in cultural anthropology from Tufts University, a business certificate from Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Management, and a certificate in organizational storytelling from the Center for Narrative Studies.

In 1999, Michael co-founded and led CitySkills, a national nonprofit focused on high-tech workforce development in urban communities. Funded by the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations, Michael organized a national alliance of leading training programs, documented best practices, and facilitated the flow of resources into this new workforce sector. Right out of college, Michael became the Director of Development and a founding member of Volunteer Solutions - a web platform that facilitated public service on college campuses. Michael helped broker the nonprofit’s merger with the United Way, and today the platform is used across 165 United Way chapters. Volunteer Solutions was the first nonprofit to ever win the M.I.T. $50K Entrepreneurship Competition.

Michael was raised in Switzerland as a child, before moving to Los Angeles, Boston, and Washington, DC. Currently living in New York City, Michael is an advisor to local organizations including New York University’s Stern Business Plan Competition and Eco-Africa Social Ventures (Zimbabwe Artisan Collective).