Strategy · Innovation · Mission-Driven Growth

Michael Steiner, Ph.D.

Creating the strategy, funding, and public voice that lets mission-driven organizations grow — without losing what makes them sacred.

Senior Vice President of Advancement & Innovation. Executive coach. Licensed minister. A leader for institutions that measure success in more than one bottom line.

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Michael Steiner
Lakeland, FloridaEst. leadership, 2017
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I.

Impact, by the numbers

Every number has a story — turn the cards.

Continue — II. The executive record ↓
II.

The executive record

2024 — Present

Senior Vice President of Advancement & Innovation

Southeastern University

Full ownership of a 40-person organization spanning Advancement, Athletics, and the university's Research Centers — vision, personnel, and P&L — including major and mega gifts, planned giving, corporate and foundation relationships, and an $80M capital campaign. Coordinating both the Endowment & Investment Committee and the Finance Committee — and setting their agendas — he helped lead the university from a $9M operating deficit to a $10M+ operational surplus while the endowment nearly tripled.

  • A financial turnaround$9M deficit to $10M+ surplus; endowment grown from ~$10M to ~$29M with him coordinating both governing committees.
  • A flagship event, from scratchConceived and led the university's first President's Summit — a Westfall Gold-tier donor event that raised $2.2M.
  • New giving infrastructureMicro-giving day, legacy society, and regional donor dinners; giving-day participation up 65% year over year.
  • Counsel at the topSets revenue strategy for the development team and advises the president directly on institutional resourcing.
President's Summit '25 — $2.2M raised
Michael in conversation with a donor
Michael speaking with guests at a donor event
Guests in conversation at an SEU Social

In the room — SEU donor & community gatherings

2017 — 2024

Vice President of Innovation & Chief of Staff

Southeastern University

Ran the President's office end to end — cabinet, board relations, government strategy, and the president's public brand, including a weekly podcast, national op-eds in Fox Business and Forbes, and a book launch. Along the way he personally secured the institution's largest-ever foundation and state grants, and turned that funding into academic programs serving hundreds of students.

  • Institutional-record grants$2.1M Kern Family Foundation and $2M Lilly Endowment awards — plus $4.5M in first-ever state capital appropriations.
  • Programs, not just checksGrant-built academic programs — including a pastoral accelerator now serving 600+ students and a Hispanic leadership center reaching 100+ congregations.
  • Governance redesignLed a $6M budget realignment and moved the university from siloed hierarchy to a collaborative ecosystem model.
  • Trusted with the recordRepresented the institution to state and federal legislators; shepherded a 10-year reaffirmation review with zero findings.

2021 — Present

Founder, Steiner Solutions

Executive Coaching Practice

A one-to-one coaching practice serving sixteen executive leaders across biotech, construction, media, mortgage, and nonprofit sectors — the same operating instincts, applied outside the university's walls.

  • 45% YoY revenue growthCoached the founder/CEO of Helm through a growth year that landed her in the Philadelphia Business Journal's 40 Under 40.
  • A 5-year lensBuilt long-range forecast models and strategic plans — including a 5-year plan with the Winter Haven Economic Development Council.
Text message from a coaching client celebrating her 40 Under 40 recognition

Received unprompted — kept with permission

"Thanks for being the best business coach! Today the edition came out from The Philadelphia Business Journal with the 40 under 40."

Founder & CEO, Helm — 40 Under 40, 50 Most Influential Women
Continue — III. Voice & platform ↓
III.

Voice & platform

No. 01 — Broadcast

Framework Leadership

Co-host of the long-running leadership podcast, alongside a university president — interviewing leaders at the intersection of enterprise, culture, and faith.

Cathie WoodARK Invest Gen. Keith KelloggRet. Gabe LyonsTHINQ
Apple Podcasts YouTube Music
No. 02 — Policy

Research presented to the U.S. Secretary of Education

Authored "Impact of Federal Regulations on Higher Education Costs" for the America First Policy Institute — quantifying how federal rules inflate tuition and proposing reform with the potential for a 30–40% cost reduction. Presented directly to Secretary Linda McMahon; the research also underpins the book College Without Communism. He also designed the ICUF performance scorecard and dashboard — the metric system Florida's independent colleges and universities report against.

Read the white paper Watch the presentation ICUF dashboard The book
College Without Communism book stack
No. 03 — Press

In the record

No. 04 — Short form

Leadership, in sixty seconds

Under @drmichaelsteiner, he ran a TikTok channel translating executive leadership into short-form vertical video — proof he can carry a message from the boardroom to a platform with an entirely different grammar. The channel is archived, but the reps are real.

@drmichaelsteiner — the archive
Continue — IV. The age of intelligence ↓
IV.

The age of intelligence

AI is the most fundamental technological shift since the airplane and the atom — and the most radical change to the human experience since the printing press.

In the parable of the ten virgins, the wise kept oil in their lamps for a moment they could not schedule. The Church's responsibility in this shift is the same: keep oil in the lamps. His work in AI is exactly that — putting oil in the lamps of the church, teaching the vocabulary, the dangers, and the possibilities of what these changes will bring. Delivered at Catapult Incubator, the Polk County Economic Development Council, Bayside Church, and Dream City Church.

From Mechanical Ducks to Thinking Machines Key Premise: Your Ability to Act Is Tied to Your Impact AI Essentials The Church in the Age of Intelligence

"God is not scared or surprised by AI. We shouldn't be either."Matthew 25:1–13 — keep watch

"Michael built this whole thing using AI — he's never written code a day in his life."
Continue — V. What I believe ↓
V.

What I believe about leadership

Leadership is the personal use of three complementary, integrated skills to accomplish a purpose.

i.
Good decision making

Leaders bless their organizations and their society by making good decisions. Wisdom is the foundation of good decision making — and a free gift, given by God to those who ask for it.

Proverbs 29:4 · Proverbs 4:7 · James 1:5

ii.
Knowing the season

Like the Sons of Issachar, wise leaders provide stability through an acute understanding of the world around them — and because they act in the right season, they leave an inheritance for the next generation.

1 Chronicles 12:32 · Isaiah 33:6 · Proverbs 6:6–8 · Proverbs 13:22

iii.
Unlocking potential

Leaders help their people unlock their God-given potential and motivate them toward good deeds — in the face of adversity and opposition.

Ephesians 2:10 · Hebrews 10:24 · Galatians 6:9

Continue — VI. Life outside the office ↓
VI.

Life outside the office

Michael with his wife and four daughters on the National Mall, July 4th
The National Mall — July 4th, with the five people who outrank every board

He grew up a missionary kid — flying with his parents across the Gulf of America to deliver medical supplies to indigenous tribes. Family, in his experience, was never adjacent to the mission; it was how the mission traveled. That conviction never left him.

Today: married eleven years. He and his wife homeschool their four daughters through the Classical Conversations curriculum — and then, in true builder fashion, founded a nonprofit to bring that model to other families in their community.

Swan City Classical Collective

A homeschool collective nonprofit co-founded with his wife — classical education, rooted in faith and family, opened up to their Lakeland community.

Continue — VII. Credentials ↓
VII.

Credentials

Ph.D.Business PsychologyThe Chicago School of Professional Psychology, 2021
M.B.A.Business AdministrationSoutheastern University, 2015
B.S.Practical TheologySoutheastern University, 2014
LicenseLicensed MinisterAssemblies of God, 2015
CertifiedKolbe Assessment Consultant2024
ProfessorProfessor of Strategic Management, Jannetides College of BusinessAlso teaches Accounting, Economics & Financial Strategy (MBA); developed AI & Design Thinking coursework
One last word ↓
Michael Steiner's signature

Strategy, funding, and public voice — grown without losing what makes the mission sacred.

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