A Spiritual Biography

Robert has two decades of experience in diverse industries, including public health, leadership development, and education, finance, organizational consulting, and executive coaching. He is passionate about service and deeply curious about how people can facilitate sustainable transformation to enable more peace, justice, and freedom in our world. Robert’s career has enabled him to cross the private and public sectors multiple times as a manager with PricewaterhouseCoopers; cofounder and CEO of an award-winning social enterprise; a director of programs for Concern Worldwide Innovation’s Unit in India, Africa, and New York (in partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and UNICEF); and as a coach and consultant with The Crossland Group for businesses and organizations in fields such as human rights, social justice, education, tech startup, well-being, and others.

Originally from Ireland, Robert holds a bachelor’s degree in commerce, accounting, and business management from the University College of Dublin. He is a certified public accountant in Ireland, and certified in mediation, executive coaching, the Enneagram, Reiki, and Celtic Irish Shamanism. Additionally, he has trained under Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach as a part of their Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program and is a 200-hr Kripalu certified yoga teacher.

Michael is the president and co-founder of Commonweal. His principal work at Commonweal is with the Cancer Help Program, CancerChoices.org, the Omega Resilience Projects, the Collaborative on Health and the Environment, and The New School at Commonweal. He was the recipient of a MacArthur Prize Fellowship for contributions to public health in 1983 and is author of Choices in Healing: Integrating the Best of Conventional and Complementary Therapies (MIT Press).