Michael Thompson is a joint MPP/MBA degree candidate at the Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs and the Yale School of Management, focusing on climate policy and innovation, international development, and impact and systems investing.

Before Yale, Michael was a pre-graduate intern on the Strategic Initiatives team at Blue Haven Initiative, helping direct catalytic philanthropic capital to emerging solutions and innovations in the U.S. Prior to this, his career was dedicated to mobilizing impact capital and supporting entrepreneurs to drive systemic change through over eight years of experience in impact investing. He has advised and invested in ventures and funds across agriculture, renewable energy, financial services, and technology, with a focus on frontier and undercapitalized markets.

Michael has lived and worked in Kenya, Senegal, Nigeria, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, and the United Kingdom, building cross-cultural fluency and market insight for global impact work. Raised in Ghana, Michael holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and is passionate about leveraging impact-first capital and systems-level approaches to accelerate sustainable development in low-income and disadvantaged communities worldwide.