Mike Fishman, co-founder of MEF Associates and former President, now serves as Senior Advisor of the firm. Mike’s work is related to welfare reform, employment and training, early care and education, and the broad range of human service programs with which he has worked throughout his career.
Mike has played a key role in site development and implementation research on numerous federally funded large-scale, random assignment evaluations testing strategies for improving outcomes for low-income and disadvantaged populations. He has successfully directed policy research, evaluation, and technical assistance projects for the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation in HHS, the Administration for Children and Families, the Office of Head Start, the Employment and Training Administration, the Economic Research Service, state governments, and foundations.
Mike possesses an extensive understanding of Social Security, cash assistance programs, child support enforcement, food assistance and nutrition programs, employment and training programs, and Head Start. He has extensive representation experience with Congress, the White House, federal departments, state and local governments, and professional and interest organizations.
Prior to starting MEF, he served as Director of the Federal Human Services Practice at The Lewin Group for 11 years. In addition to his research expertise, Mike has over 25 years of experience managing health and human service programs in HHS and the Department of Agriculture’s Office of Food and Nutrition Service. He is a former career member of the Senior Executive Service.
Mike earned a master’s degree in Organizational Psychology from Antioch College Northwest and a master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Southern California. He also earned a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Case Western Reserve University. In his spare time, Mike enjoys traveling with his wife, spoiling his grandchildren, rooting for all of the local sports teams, doing NY Times crossword puzzles, and occasionally duffing his way around a golf course.