Michael Gao

Michael Gao is the founder of Alpaca Health, a company established in July 2024 that aims to empower Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) to independently launch and grow their ABA communities. Currently, Michael also holds the title of Founder Fellow at South Park Commons, focusing on creating a clinician-owned future for autism care. As of March 2018, Michael has been the founder of Dewey Smart, which connects high school students with empathetic near-peer mentors. Previously, Michael served as a Technical Product Manager at FutureFit AI, where leadership guided the development of a new recruitment product, and as an Analytics Data Engineer at Addepar, responsible for building critical data dashboards. Other roles include serving as Data Director for Colin Allred's congressional campaign, a summer data analyst with Venture For America, and a summer organizing fellow with Battleground Texas. Michael holds a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science and Economics from Columbia University and graduated from Judge Barefoot Sanders Law Magnet High School.