Michel Hostad

Michael Hostad is the executive director of Innovation in Milwaukee (MiKE), an initiative of the Greater Milwaukee Committee. MiKE creates programs that lead to partnerships between corporations and emerging talent networks. Michael is also a co-founder of The Commons a unique academic-meets-industry initiative to attract, develop and retain the brightest entrepreneurial and innovative minds.

​Michael has been an entrepreneur since high school and college when he built his own web development firm serving clients nationwide. Prior to his role at MiKE, Michael served as the director of web and mobile strategy and the chancellor’s designee for entrepreneurship and innovation at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM). He founded the UWM App Brewery, which hires students to build mobile applications for researchers, nonprofit organizations, and startup organizations throughout Wisconsin.