Michael is the founder of The Final Step. He began his career as a substitute teacher for the Los Angeles County of Education in 1994. It was in the juvenile halls where he was introduced to children and young adults who were incarcerated from the ages of 9 to 19 years of age and who would serve anywhere from 30 days to 25 to life. It was this experience that enabled him to gain an understanding of the adults of whom he now serves.

Michael is a Probation Officer for the Los Angeles County Probation Department. He is currently responsible for supervising a Proposition-36 caseload that has anywhere between 200 to 400 clients. (Proposition 36 is a law that was passed by the State of California in July of 2001 that stated anyone who is arrested for a narcotic offense would be sent to a treatment program as opposed to Prison or County Jail.)

In April 2001, Michael was introduced to Non Violent Communication (NVC), a language technique that focuses on connecting an individuals feelings to their needs and reveals how these needs can be met in a life serving way. Michael began to use the NVC technique to see if he could get a better understanding of their situation and to see how they would respond to this type of language. Needless to say, the results have been eye opening. Over 80% of his clients have abstained from mind altering substances and successfully completed their grant of Probation. (The state average is 10% for individuals dealing with drug challenges.)

Michael holds Bachelors Degree in Sociology form Holy Cross College in Worcester, MA. He is a specialist in Nonviolent Communication and a certified trainer in “The Herrmann Brain Dominance Model.”