Michael A. Jean

Michael A. Jean has worked in the field of grant administration and proposal development for both the non-profit and local government sectors for nearly three decades. He was first introduced to grants management while overseeing emergency shelters, advocating for the homeless and administering federal rental assistance programs on behalf of low income families and individuals. This pioneering work included the development of transitional housing programs, family self-sufficiency programs, and the implementation of Gautreaux consent decree to desegregate public housing in Chicago. Michael gained additional experience managing a variety of city, state and federal funds at Chicago’s oldest and largest non-sectarian human service agency Metropolitan Family Services.

While completing his Master of Science in the Management of Public Services at DePaul University in 1999, he realized the impact that public policy can have on the communities. Fulfilling his goal to round out his experience working with foundation and corporate funders, Michael has spent the past eighteen years at two prominent Washington, DC-based think tanks: The Brookings Institution and the Aspen Institute. Michael has also previously served as a Board member of the Department of Social Services of Charles County Maryland as well as a Board member and Grants Committee Chair for the Community Foundation of Southern Maryland.

At the Aspen Institute, Michael’s special focus is on properly classifying and recording a variety of charitable and non-charitable revenues across the Institute, reviewing and approving incoming awards and financial reports to the donors, working to insure integrity of the financial systems for the Policy Programs, approving sub-awards and regrants to outside parties, and training/mentoring new staff around grants management topics.