Michael is the Helpline's Education and Communities Lead, where they support civil society groups and human rights defenders in staying digitally secure. In their role they also act as the Digital Security Helpline's Deputy Director. In addition to their work at Access Now, Michael supports the development of Qubes OS, a security and privacy-focused operating system. A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Michael studied at the University of Chicago, in China at Capital Normal University, Zhejiang University, and the Hopkins-Nanjing Center for Chinese and American Studies, and completed their master's degree at Johns Hopkins University's School for Advanced International Studies. During their studies they interned at the Office of Communications and Information Policy at the US State Department and at the International Reporting Project.