Michael Eck
Co-Chairman and Chief Development Officer

"My involvement in being a founding donor of STEER is based on my passion for sports and my strong belief in the potential of sports as a vehicle for positive experiences that can impact lives. I am honored to have a chance to use my leadership skills, which I have acquired from my business experiences and playing sports, to "pay it forward" through the STEER initiative. I believe that I, as well as the founding members of STEER, have the skill set and life experiences to implement the STEER program successfully."

Michael is a trusted advisor to public and private boards, senior management teams, entrepreneur owners and financial sponsors.  Michael has provided strategic advice to domestic and global companies primarily in the retail and consumer space related to merger and acquisition strategy, monetization plans, capital raising, capital allocation and shareholder return policies, activism, shareholder communications and select other relevant board topics. In addition to his board role at STEER, Michael has been a board member of Blue Buffalo, J. Jill, USA Ultimate, and Churchill Capital, and a Senior Advisor at M Klein and Company.

From 2008-2014 Michael was the Global Group Head of the Consumer and Retail Investment Banking Practice at Morgan Stanley.  From 1993 - 2008, Michael created and led The Global Consumer and Retail Investment Banking practice at Citigroup. In 2001 Michael and Dr. Tom Crawford Co-founded Altheus, an innovative health services business offering integrated personal coaching programs, combining nutrition, massage, physical therapy and mental preparation for individuals, athletes and teams. 

Michael was a full scholarship athlete at the University of Virginia from 1980 - 1984. In 1987 Michael received a Masters in Management from the J.L. Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

​Michael is married and has 4 children and has used positive sports experiences to achieve better outcomes for himself and his family. The passion and belief in positive sports participation is one of the foundations for the formation of STEER for Student Athletes, Inc.