Michael Ma `84: World Changer

In the 24 years Michael Ma `84 has worked for the government, most of that in the U.S. State Department, as a foreign service officer, he`s always battled the nagging feeling that life was better on the other side, the corporate world, that is. But when he surveys his career, those feelings are quickly dismissed. Ma recently paid a visit to Hawken to speak with Upper School students about his career that`s had him traveling the globe and working in the White House for former Secretary of State Colin Powell and then-National Security Advisor Condolezza Rice. As a foreign service officer he`s held posts in Seoul, South Korea; Berlin, Germany and Florence, Italy helping to lead advocacy in a number of issues ranging from American foreign policy, the safety American citizens abroad, the promotion American business interests across the globe. Next month, he will enter a post in Baghdad working to bring estranged Sunni leaders back into the political fold. Of any pursuit, Ma told two AffNo reporters in an interview after the Upper School assembly that it was important to be passionate about it, regardless of its perceived status. Likewise, Ma fondly recalled his days in the West Wing, but said his deepest satisfaction came in knowing that he`s been able to help distressed Americans abroad, to influence policy and to change what can be at times a misinformed image of the Unites States. \"Some things are pretty big icebergs,\" he said of foreign relations. \"You need to start chipping at them, but have to start somewhere. \"This kind of grassroots diplomacy is one way to get it done.\"