Michael Orta
As a college student, Michael learned Spanish during his year in Seville, Spain; where he also mastered the local dance, served as Red Cross volunteer at Seville’s bullring, participated as a barefoot penitent in a Holy Week procession, and backpacked through 10 European countries. After college, Michael did the logical thing for a Spanish major: he moved to rural Fukushima, Japan to teach middle school English. During 4 years in Japan, Michael traveled extensively, practiced Aikido, competed in mountain bike races with his students, and performed at festivals as part of his town’s Taiko drumming group. Michael has also labored on an organic farm and held leadership positions at impactful nonprofits where he addressed food insecurity in rural North Carolina, advocated for pedestrian safety in Atlanta, and improved secondary education in Puerto Rico. For the past decade, he has worked as a public health training consultant for several divisions of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, while continually connecting with young people through Boy Scout camping trips and youth group service projects. He loves creating “ah-ha” moments through international travel. Michael is conversational in Japanese, and fluent in Spanish. This year, he’ll hike the coastline of Isle of Skye, Scotland, and guide his parents through Thailand.