Michael Durkin

President & Chief Executive Officer

As president, Michael K. Durkin provides the leadership and strategic direction that drives United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley toward achieving its vision, mission, and long-term goals for the community. He works closely with the Board of Directors, United Way staff and the community to advance the organization’s work to make this region the best place for children and families in the country.

Recently Michael oversaw the development and launch of a three-year results-oriented investment strategy aimed at ensuring more children enter school ready to learn, more youth graduate from high school and more families achieve financial stability. The strategy aligns 160 Massachusetts health and human service organizations under the same set of community goals. Michael also co-chaired the Leadership Council of the Boston Regional Homeless Network, part of the city’s ambitious strategy to reduce long-term and family homelessness in the city by 50 percent by 2012.

Michael has more than 30 years of United Way experience. Prior to joining United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley he served as president of Mile High United Way in Denver, Colorado. His United Way experience also includes senior management positions in the following communities: Atlanta, Georgia, Portsmouth, New Hampshire; Lawrence, Massachusetts; Boulder, Colorado; and Columbia, South Carolina. Sparking a long career of serving the community, Michael entered the United Way system as a Kellogg Fellow and an intern for United Way of America in Alexandria, Virginia.

He currently serves as Chair of United Way of America’s National Professional Council, on the Board of Trustees of the Cotting School, and on the Board of Directors for Initiative for a New Economy. He graduated, cum laude, from Boston College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science. Michael and his wife, Ann Bersani, have three children.