Matt is an accomplished servant leader and social entrepreneur with more than three-decades of strategy, operations, program, policy and grantcraft at the local, state, national and international level. Recognized as a transformative and generative thinker, Matt is an outstanding steward of strategy and staff, translating vision to reality at scale. He is an adept systems thinker with high ambiguity tolerance, rendering him an effective navigator of complexity. Matt is known for his expertise in social, economic and ecological justice, civic engagement & mobilisation, empowerment, and public education equity and access. Matt holds a BA from Tufts University, a certificate in multicultural communications from the School for International Training, and an MPA from the JFK School of Government at Harvard. Outside of his professional pursuits, Matt participates in working groups on civil-military affairs and the delivery of humanitarian assistance in complex emergencies. He is Chairperson of Family Hui Hawaii, statewide peer-led, peer-to-peer anti-child abuse & neglect non-profit.
Currently, Matt is a SENIOR CONSULTANT providing
advisory services in strategy, start-up operations, business development, civic engagement, program services.. Broad domain knowledge in social justice with recognized expertise in public educational access, equity, youth agency and Edtech. Relevant Clients:
• PBS Hawai’i – Education Coordinator: Senior strategy and implementation advisor for PBS Hawaii’s HIKI NŌ, the premier statewide student news program
• TrustCircle – Corporate Development Director: Senior strategy and corporate philanthropy advisor for SEL and psychosocial support software platform for students and young adults
• PERSEUS – (Planned Emergency Response System Engaging Unified Support) – Senior Strategy Advisor on a pandemic risk management platform.
• Galaxy Magnesium – Senior Corporate Strategy Advisor to a US-China Joint Venture to bring green magnesium to the global market
• Hawaii Performance Assessment Collaborative: Strategic advisory and landscape analysis for premier statewide performance assessment collaborative
• Hawaii Fi-Do Service Dogs – Consulting Executive Director of Oahu’s only community-based service dog training non-profit.
• Kamehameha Schools: Senior Research consultant on indigenous opportunity youth, equity and access
Prior to opening his own advisory, Matt served for 2 years, first as lead consultant for youth engagement and subsequently as inaugural President of Oakland-based, XQ Institute, the premiere education initiative of the Emerson Collective. Leading up to his service with Emerson, Matt was inaugural leader and administrator of two highly successful, private philanthropies (HDI, The Learning Coalition); Director on the National Security Council (NSC) – Office of Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs; Senior consultant with the US Department of State (US Mission to the United Nations), and the United Nations Office of Project Services (UNOPS) – the UN’s humanitarian assistance logistics agency; Senior Director at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) - the State of Hawaii’s indigenous advocacy and grantmaking agency; Director at Caspian Securities – the first emerging market-only investment bank; Student leader of a global grassroots movement in support of Tiananmen Square uprising; Founder of first student led, internet-based, global human rights network -- the Student Human Rights Exchange (SHARE); and, Founding/Managing Partner of The Greenhouse, the first double bottom-line, ecosystem economics-based, high-tech business incubator in Hawaii.
Over the years, his portfolio, policy and programmatic responsibilities have spanned a wide array of sectors. He has distinguished himself in recent years in the domains of public education, civic engagement and human rights with a long history in national security, multi-lateral affairs, democratic governance, international diplomacy, humanitarian assistance, civil military affairs, military psychological operations, religious freedom, and landmine eradication.
Matt holds a BA from Tufts University in Art History, a certificate in multicultural communications from the School for International Training in Brattleboro, Vermont, and an MPA from the JFK School of Government at Harvard University.
Outside of his professional pursuits, Matt participates in working groups on civil-military affairs and the delivery of humanitarian assistance in complex emergencies. He is a member of the National Policy Roundtable, sits on a handful of Hawaii-based, non-profit boards. Matt is married to Aiea. They have two children, Mason and Kate.
Currently, Matt is a SENIOR CONSULTANT providing
advisory services in strategy, start-up operations, business development, civic engagement, program services.. Broad domain knowledge in social justice with recognized expertise in public educational access, equity, youth agency and Edtech. Relevant Clients:
• PBS Hawai’i – Education Coordinator: Senior strategy and implementation advisor for PBS Hawaii’s HIKI NŌ, the premier statewide student news program
• TrustCircle – Corporate Development Director: Senior strategy and corporate philanthropy advisor for SEL and psychosocial support software platform for students and young adults
• PERSEUS – (Planned Emergency Response System Engaging Unified Support) – Senior Strategy Advisor on a pandemic risk management platform.
• Galaxy Magnesium – Senior Corporate Strategy Advisor to a US-China Joint Venture to bring green magnesium to the global market
• Hawaii Performance Assessment Collaborative: Strategic advisory and landscape analysis for premier statewide performance assessment collaborative
• Hawaii Fi-Do Service Dogs – Consulting Executive Director of Oahu’s only community-based service dog training non-profit.
• Kamehameha Schools: Senior Research consultant on indigenous opportunity youth, equity and access
Prior to opening his own advisory, Matt served for 2 years, first as lead consultant for youth engagement and subsequently as inaugural President of Oakland-based, XQ Institute, the premiere education initiative of the Emerson Collective. Leading up to his service with Emerson, Matt was inaugural leader and administrator of two highly successful, private philanthropies (HDI, The Learning Coalition); Director on the National Security Council (NSC) – Office of Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs; Senior consultant with the US Department of State (US Mission to the United Nations), and the United Nations Office of Project Services (UNOPS) – the UN’s humanitarian assistance logistics agency; Senior Director at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) - the State of Hawaii’s indigenous advocacy and grantmaking agency; Director at Caspian Securities – the first emerging market-only investment bank; Student leader of a global grassroots movement in support of Tiananmen Square uprising; Founder of first student led, internet-based, global human rights network -- the Student Human Rights Exchange (SHARE); and, Founding/Managing Partner of The Greenhouse, the first double bottom-line, ecosystem economics-based, high-tech business incubator in Hawaii.
Over the years, his portfolio, policy and programmatic responsibilities have spanned a wide array of sectors. He has distinguished himself in recent years in the domains of public education, civic engagement and human rights with a long history in national security, multi-lateral affairs, democratic governance, international diplomacy, humanitarian assistance, civil military affairs, military psychological operations, religious freedom, and landmine eradication.
Matt holds a BA from Tufts University in Art History, a certificate in multicultural communications from the School for International Training in Brattleboro, Vermont, and an MPA from the JFK School of Government at Harvard University.
Outside of his professional pursuits, Matt participates in working groups on civil-military affairs and the delivery of humanitarian assistance in complex emergencies. He is a member of the National Policy Roundtable, sits on a handful of Hawaii-based, non-profit boards. Matt is married to Aiea. They have two children, Mason and Kate.
