President & CEO
Michael E. Hill of Washington, DC is the President & Chief Executive Officer of Youth For Understanding USA, assuming the position in June 2013. Since his appointment, Hill has ushered in a new vision for YFU, dramatically expanding and diversifying programs, relocating the organization’s national headquarters to a new state-of-the-art complex in Washington, DC; and co-leading a historic civil rights trip to Cuba with the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC, at the invitation of Mariela Castro, two weeks before diplomatic relations were restored between the US and the island nation. He has provided an important advocacy voice in his role as a member of the Board of Directors of the Alliance for International Exchange and has served as a panelist and speaker on issues surrounding international education and exchange.
Prior to joining YFU, he served as Senior Vice President of External Affairs for United Cerebral Palsy. In that role, he led international public education, fundraising, communications, marketing and branding efforts for one for the world’s largest health care charities. He led national development, communications and volunteer efforts for Washington National Cathedral as Executive Director for External Relations and held a similar role at The Washington Ballet. Hill directed a $125 million effort to expand the historic Arena Stage, securing the largest single gift ever made to a theater in the United States, and served as Executive Director of St. Bonaventure University’s Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts, where he oversaw the construction of a new museum complex, the renovation of a historic theater, the addition of an artist residency center and the quadrupling of programming at the multi-venue arts complex. Starting his career as a journalist, he served as a Dow Jones Newspaper Fund Fellow and as a Staff Correspondent for the Courier-Observer.
He holds a BA in journalism from St. Bonaventure and an MA in arts and cultural management from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota. Hill is an international educator and founding faculty member of the Master of Arts Management program at George Mason University, where in 2011, he was named faculty member of the year. He has also given lectures on the non-profit sector to groups from France and China in his work with GMU and as a visiting lecturer for Georgetown University. In 2016, he was chosen as a leadership fellow in the American Express – Aspen Institute Academy, and in 2012, was selected as one 12 American Express NGen Leadership Fellows in the United States. He is a member of St. Bonaventure University’s Board of Trustees and serves on the Board of Directors of the Sitar Arts Center, which advances the critical life skills of underserved children and youth and prepares them for achievement in the 21st century through visual, performing, and digital arts education in a nurturing community.