A longtime advocate for children and a recognized leader in the child welfare field, Mike Shaver believes in strategic collaboration and in using research, evidence and data to develop, deliver and analyze innovative practices and programs to ensure children and families receive only effective, quality services. Mike has extensive experience in developing collective impact strategies.
Mike served as the President & CEO of Children’s Home Society of Florida from 2014 to 2019. He joined the agency after seven years as the Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President of Children’s Home & Aid.
Mike worked for the Illinois Department of Children & Family Services from 1998 to 2003, serving in a variety of roles including the Deputy Director of Budget, Research and Planning. His work included performance-based contracting for community-based, non-profit agencies, federal waiver demonstrations, and the redesign of intensive treatment and placement stabilization services across the state for children with serious emotional disturbances. These and other reforms were instrumental in reducing, by half, the number of Illinois children in foster care.
He earned a MA in Public Policy from the University of Chicago, Irving B. Harris School of Public Policy and a BA in Political Science from Colorado College.