Michael (Mike) K. Pearson is PHMC’s President and CEO; he was appointed to this role in July 2023.
Mike served on the PHMC Board of Directors beginning in 2011 and held a number of leadership roles including Treasurer, Vice Chair and Board Chair, a position he held from June 2015 to June 2019. Under his guidance as PHMC Board Treasurer, Mike helped to increase organizational sustainability by supporting the implementation of financial planning and budgeting requirements for PHMC’s programs and subsidiaries, allowing each subsidiary to carry out its mission more effectively and deliver services more efficiently to the community. Mike also played a vital role in launching PHMC’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Governing Council in 2020 and the 2023 release of Embracing Diversity, Fostering Equity, Achieving Inclusion, PHMC’s first DEI report.
In addition to his work as part of PHMC’s Board, Mike is the Principal of Michael K. Pearson Consulting. He specializes in business strategy and operations consulting for for-profit and nonprofit C-Suite decision makers. Mike is a Senior Advisor to Econsult Solutions, consultants that provide businesses and public policy makers with consulting services in urban economics, real estate economics, transportation, public infrastructure, development, public policy, and community development planning.
Mike is an experienced CEO that founded and led Philadelphia-based Union Packaging (UP), LLC, which he sold to LBP Manufacturing LLC., a subsidiary of Pritzker Private Capital, in May 2019.
From January 2013 to May 2019, Mike served on the Evolution Insurance Company Board of Directors. As a member-owner, he approved renewal terms, conditions and financial statements, developed and refined risk management standards, recognized safety excellence and set overall growth and strategic direction of the captive insurance company. He served on the Risk Control committee. During his service there were over 200 members and $128,000,000 in premium in the captive.
A widely respected leader with more than 24 years of social entrepreneurial experience, Mike has a personal ethos of giving back to the community and works to instill those values in the business community. Never looking at charitable giving as an expense, he sees support of programs for the underserved and economic development as investments in the nation’s future. He lives the ethos he preaches, serving on several boards, including the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia Foundation, Philadelphia Zoo, Philadelphia Regional Port Authority, and Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce.
He was formerly involved with the boards of the Evident Change, now known as National Council on Crime and Delinquency, Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation, William Penn Foundation, OIC Philadelphia, Philadelphia Regional Port Authority, the Committee of Seventy ACHIEVEability, the Economic and Community Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, the Delaware County Chamber of Commerce, the Governor’s Manufacturing Advisory Council for Pennsylvania, the U.S. Small Business Administration National Small Business Development Center Advisory Board, the United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey, and St. Christopher’s Foundation for Children, among others. Mike also served on the City of Philadelphia’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Advisory Council and Steering Committee, Pathways to Reform, Transformation & Reconciliation.
In 2022, Mike was inducted into the inaugural Philadelphia Smart Business Dealmakers Hall of Fame sponsored by UBS, recognized for impactful contributions made to the Philadelphia business community, his achievements, and the legacy that continues with other initiatives and involvement. In 2019, he was named to City & State PA and AARP Pennsylvania 50 Over 50 and received the Greater Philadelphia YMCA Lawrence S. Smith Distinguished Service Award. That same year, Ernst & Young Greater Philadelphia presented Mike with the Social Award for his lifelong commitment to community stewardship and fostering diversity in business.
Mike received the Urban League of Philadelphia Community Leadership Award in 2018. In 2015, Mike and UP received multiple honors, including being recognized by the Eastern Minority Supplier Development Council as MBE Advocate of the Year; receiving the first Business Leadership in Diversity Award from Fisher & Phillips LLP, a national labor and employment law firm; receiving The Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce 2015 GPCC Diversity and Inclusion Award; being named an Outstanding Director by the Philadelphia Business Journal for service on the PHMC board; and receiving the Inner-City Capital Connections Urban Impact Award. Union Packaging was selected as the 2014 Goodwill of Delaware & Delaware County Workforce Partnership Employer of the Year.
Under Mike’s leadership, UP was named to the 2013 Black Enterprise 100 Largest Black Businesses in the United States. UP was ranked as one of the 2013 fastest-growing, privately held businesses in the Philadelphia region by the Philadelphia 100®, the Wharton Small Business Development Center, the Entrepreneurs' Forum of Greater Philadelphia, and the Philadelphia Business Journal. The Minority Supplier Diversity Council of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware selected UP as the 2013 Class III Supplier of the Year.
In 2012, the Urban League of Philadelphia presented the Spirit of Innovation Award to UP, and Mike received the African & Caribbean Business Council’s Atlas Award for Advancing Opportunity. In 2010, Mike received the Philadelphia Business Journal’s Minority Business Leader Award and was honored by Richard E. Marriott, Chairman of the Marriott Foundation for hiring young adults with disabilities. In 2007 the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce honored Mike and UP as Manufacturer of the Year at its small business awards ceremony. The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency selected UP the 2007 Minority Manufacturer of the Year. Burger King Corporation selected UP as its 2006 Supplier of the Year for outstanding performance in their procurement system. In 2005, the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Philadelphia District Office selected Mike as Eastern Pennsylvania Small Businessperson of the Year.
Mike holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and served in the United States military as a combat duty Army Officer in the Persian Gulf War, where he received the Bronze Star.
