Mike is a founding member of the California Sigma Chapter of Phi Delta Theta, graduating from Sonoma State with a BA in economics in 2001 and an MBA in 2010. As an undergraduate, Mike was an executive officer for all four years of his undergraduate membership, holding many different offices, including president, vice president, and recruitment and social chairs.
While in college, Mike started working for American Home Shield as a front-line representative. Over ten years, he would move up in the company, training to become a Six Sigma Black Belt and running quality improvement projects focused on customer experience and operational efficiency. He also managed training and development teams nationwide, focusing on customer service, sales, and management-level leadership training.
In 2007, Mike received an opportunity to return to his alma mater to help Sonoma State University by defining business processes and improving process documentation. He was quickly moved into areas where process improvement and management experience with finance and operations could help improve the faculty, student, and staff experience. He would go on to serve as the senior associate athletics director for the Division II athletics program, redesigning the financial operations and overseeing the compliance and administrative processes for thirteen programs. Mike then moved back to the administration and finance division as the director of continuous improvement, where his leadership over quality improvement projects would earn multiple awards from the California Higher Education Consortium. Currently, Mike is the senior director for budget and planning in academic affairs, helping to manage the instructional and operational funding for the university.
As a Phi Delt volunteer, Mike started as a CAB chair for California Sigma in 2010. After working with the chapter for several years, he was offered the opportunity to become the province president for Omicron Northwest. This province has seen significant growth during this time, expanding from three chapters to four and one emerging chapter. As the province president, Mike served in numerous leadership and facilitation roles, including as faculty at Kleberg Emerging Leaders Institute and Mackenzie Family Presidents Leadership Conference and as a participant on the Phikeia Education Task Force, Survey Commission, and regional retreats. In 2021, Mike was honored with the Oliver J. Samuel Award for Outstanding Province President of the biennium. In 2022, he created an innovative program to pair Phi Delt leadership programming with a three-course leadership certificate at Sonoma State University, allowing Phi Delts to receive college credit for leadership development. Mike also serves as a co-instructor of the courses associated with Kleberg and McKenzie Family PLC, bringing his years of leadership experience into the classroom to share with current Phi Delta Theta leaders.
Mike lives in Santa Rosa, California, with his wife, Kimi, two children, Carina and Braden, and their dog, Luna. In his spare time, he enjoys running, reading, and homebrewing.
A piece of advice
“For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.” —Rudyard Kipling
“Stay true to your values even when it is hard. In a difficult situation, rarely is the right decision the easiest. Find people who will hold you accountable. By having a trusted group of advisors, you have people who will make sure you are true to yourself and stay the course.”
Mike Ogg