Jennifer Granholm
Jennifer Granholm was elected governor in 2002 and re-elected in 2006. She began her career in public service as a judicial clerk for Michigan's 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. She became a federal prosecutor in Detroit in 1990, and in 1994, she was appointed Wayne County Corporation Counsel. Granholm was elected Michigan's first female attorney general in 1998.
Since becoming governor, she has worked to transform and grow Michigan's economy through diversification, create jobs, ensure world-class educational opportunities for every Michigan student, create universal access to affordable health care, and stand up for Michigan workers and families during tough economic times. While aggressively pursuing her top priority of putting Michigan families first, she has also worked to ensure that state government spends every penny efficiently and has successfully resolved more than $9 billion in budget deficits.
Granholm's comprehensive economic agenda includes growing a new alternative energy sector that will transform Michigan's rustbelt image to a greenbelt reality, help end our nation's dependence on foreign oil, and help train unemployed and under-employed citizens for high-demand jobs through the No Worker Left Behind initiative, which has enrolled more than 100,000 people since its launch in 2007.
Granholm has championed universal access to higher education, increased spending to record levels for Michigan's public schools, and implemented some of the most rigorous high school graduation requirements in the nation.
The Pew Center on the States recognized Michigan as one of the best-managed states in the nation in the Government Performance Project report entitled, "Grading the States 2008."
Granholm serves as chair of the Health and Human Services Committee and is co-chair of the Health Care Task Force of the National Governors Association, and is chair of the Midwestern Governors Association.
Granholm was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, and is an honors graduate of both the University of California at Berkeley and Harvard Law School. She and her husband, Daniel G. Mulhern, have three children.
Dan Mulhern
Dan Mulhern is a nationally recognized expert in the fields of leadership, gender and organizational culture. Mulhern is dedicated to helping individuals, businesses and organizations vigilantly work to mutually promote the strength of family and the productivity of work. Now teaching courses on leadership, gender and work at the Haas School of Business and Boalt Law School at the University of California, Berkeley, Mulhern leverages his experience to offer valuable insight on cultural changes happening in today's workplaces. Through his work as a public speaker, radio personality, writer, leadership coach, and consultant in the public, private and nonprofit sectors, Mulhern's inspired thousands to lead with their best self.
Mulhern co-authored A Governor's Story: The Fight for Jobs and America's Economic Future with his wife, Jennifer Granholm. The book, a Washington Post political bestseller, discusses leadership during difficult times and periods of intense change, focusing in particular on how Granholm led Michigan out of its major economic meltdown, and the major challenges facing American leadership today. Mulhern has published two books on leadership, Everyday Leadership: Getting Results in Business, Politics and Life and Be Real: Inspiring Stories For Leading At Home And Work. For more than ten years, Mulhern has been writing an acclaimed blog, "Reading for Leading," which is received directly by a list of over 10,000 readers.
Mulhern has personally worked in all three major sectors and through his consulting practice has worked with a great range of organizations, corporations and government groups. He has facilitated groups as large as 600 individuals and worked with CEOs and executive teams from small start-ups all the way to Fortune 500 companies.
Prior to serving as Michigan's First Gentleman, Mulhern created a successful leadership firm, called the Mulhern Hastings Group, which he left in order to better support his wife and children when she became governor in 2002. He later launched Dan Mulhern Inc. and Granholm Mulhern Associates, where he is currently President.
In 2010, he received the Phillip A. Hart award in recognition of his unique understanding and support of women's issues and concerns. The Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association named him its Dennis Archer Public Service Award recipient in 2005. He has frequently won awards for his leadership in the mentoring field and received praise for his work on the changing roles of men and his dedication to helping companies create great places to work.
Mulhern is an honors graduate Yale University and Harvard Law School. He's also an avid runner, guitar player, and claims he can still compete on a basketball court with his daughters and son.
