Mike Schoenleber is an entrepreneur and expert in international development and negotiations who lives with his family in Wauwatosa, WI. Mike’s career has been split between public service and private sector work, while also serving on charitable boards.

As co-founder and President of Institute 2100, Mike oversees programs on long term US development and security strategy, community development, and agriculture. Mike also advises leadership at several companies in Wisconsin and throughout the Midwest. In April 2025, Mike published a report entitled “Enduring American Leadership” that provides a policy framework for principled American leadership over the next fifty years, grounded in addressing the most pressing needs of the American people. In public policy, Mike believes that all individuals have a right to flourish personally and economically, that all communities should be increasingly resilient and self-determinant, and that citizens around the world should be free to engage in secure, productive interactions with one another.

Mike concluded service as a United Nations official in 2022, where he worked for David Beasley, the Executive Director of the World Food Program. In this diplomatic capacity, Mike led humanitarian negotiations to secure food access for millions of people and to stabilize global food prices in the face of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Mike has facilitated hostage negotiations to secure the release of more than a dozen wrongfully detained Americans and has a proven track record in high-stakes negotiations in some of the most challenging environments around the world.

As an entrepreneur, Mike has built several companies and non-profits – he knows the weight of maintaining payroll for hundreds of employees and believes there are few things more important than supporting small and medium sized businesses. He previously served as President of a commodities supply chain management company and his non-profit, Alimenta La Solidaridad, was one of the largest charitable organizations in Latin America before halting operations due to political pressure. He has advised technology companies ranging from the startup phase to the Fortune 50, with particular experience in agriculture, logistics, management consulting, telecommunications, and venture capital. 

Mike began his career while still in college working in Latin America, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe in support of young pro-democracy activists. He served as Special Advisor to the President of the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) from 2012-14. At USIP, Mike chaired USIP’s Committee on Global Patterns and Megatrends to inform its strategic planning process. Since 2011, Mike has been affiliated with the Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination at Princeton University with which he still mentors students and co-chairs international academic conferences. He has published articles in The Washington Post, The Hill, and Newsmax. Mike graduated from Princeton University with a degree in Public Policy and International Affairs.