Michael Strautmanis on Chicago Roots, Family and Faith, the Obama White House, Walt Disney, and Coming Home as Chief Corporate Affairs Officer of the Obama Foundation

True leadership is built on recognizing that the mission is always bigger than your own ambition. It requires the humility to embrace being unboxed by the world, the courage to operate outside your comfort zone, and the wisdom to know when to pass the torch so the next generation can lead. Michael Strautmanis—Chief Corporate Affairs Officer of the Obama Foundation, former White House advisor, and longtime civic advocate—has spent his life working at the intersection of public policy, social impact, and community development. In our Season 3 premiere of *No Boxes, Just Verses*, Mike joins Shannon Nash to share his journey from a theater-loving kid on Chicago's South Side to the halls of the West Wing, executive leadership at Disney, and coming full circle to build the Obama Presidential Center.  *Michael Strautmanis serves as the Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at the Obama Foundation, leading the strategy to extend President and Mrs. Obama's legacy by building the Obama Presidential Center as an economic and cultural anchor on Chicago's South Side. In this role, he oversees community affairs, government relations, strategic partnerships, and digital storytelling while developing the city's next generation of civic leaders. He also leads the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance, President Obama's signature initiative dedicated to creating safe, healthy, and nurturing communities for boys and young men of color nationwide.* *Prior to his work at the Foundation, Mike spent over a decade in Washington, D.C., including four years in the Obama White House as Chief of Staff to Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett in the Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs. His distinguished public service career includes roles in the House of Representatives, the American Association for Justice, and the U.S. Agency for International Development. Following his first term in the administration, Mike joined The Walt Disney Company to lead enterprise corporate social responsibility initiatives. He holds a bachelor’s degree and a J.D. from the University of Illinois and remains an active civic leader serving on multiple Chicago boards, including Choose Chicago, World Business Chicago, and Interfaith America.* Key Takeaways: - Refuse to let other people’s assumptions put you in a box; use your unique presence, perspective, and background as an operational superpower to chart your own course. - Protect the foundational anchors of your life—faith, marriage, and family—recognizing that professional success means very little without strong personal grounding and mutual commitment. - Learn to listen deeply to what lies beneath people’s words, developing the emotional intelligence to understand institutional systems so you can effectively reform them from within. - Keep your ego in check by remembering that true public service and high-impact leadership are never about you; they are about the collective legacy and the communities you touch. - Cultivate the grace to recognize when your season in a role has ended, willingly stepping aside to empower and elevate rising leaders. - Anchor your work in relentless optimism, leaning into faith and joy even when navigating complex headwinds, crises, or loss. Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, rate, and review the podcast!  CONNECT WITH MICHAEL STRAUTMANIS: **LinkedIn**: Michael Strautmanis **The Obama Presidential Center**: obama.org **Music by Michael Damani**: Instagram Playlist CONNECT WITH SHANNON: Facebook Instagram LinkedIn Shannon | LinkedIn NBJV Theme Song: No Boxes Just Verses by Thane Kreiner (Suno)