Michael Holland is a strategic advisor with more than 30 years of experience working across business, government, philanthropy, and civil society. He advises organizations and senior leaders on strategic communications, stakeholder engagement, social impact, public affairs, and organizational reputation.
Throughout his career, Michael has counseled more than 500 senior leaders, including heads of state, Nobel laureates, Fortune 100 CEOs, and nonprofit leaders. He has helped them develop and communicate ideas across speeches, media interviews, thought leadership, and other high-stakes communications for major global forums and events, including the UN General Assembly, World Economic Forum, Nobel Week, and TED and TEDx events.
Since 2022, Michael has also pursued an independent body of place-based research and writing exploring American identity, belonging, civic life, and the relationship between institutional narratives and lived experience. His writing appears through Finding America, an ongoing series examining the places, people, and histories that help explain contemporary America.
Michael’s leadership roles have spanned the corporate, nonprofit, and international sectors. As Managing Director of Ocean Elders, he worked with global leaders including H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco, H.M. Queen Noor, Sir Richard Branson, and Dr. Jane Goodall to advance ocean conservation and protection. At Edelman, Michael served as Executive Vice President and Group Head of the firm’s largest CSR and sustainability practice, leading a 20-person team and advising clients including Bloomberg Philanthropies, GE, the Parker Foundation, the Robin Hood Foundation, and the UN Global Compact.
While at Honeywell, he directed global social impact and corporate citizenship programs across more than 100 countries, including humanitarian relief efforts following natural disasters around the world. For his work, he was named Communications Executive of the Year by the American Business Awards and Community Relations Executive of the Year by PRNews. Michael began his career at the American Chamber of Commerce (UK), where he worked on economic development initiatives supporting the Irish Peace Process.
Michael holds an M.A. from King’s College London and a B.A. in English and Philosophy from Boston College. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, an Advisory Board Member of Climate Refugees, and a former member of the Communications Advisory Board for the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.