Mr. Michael A. Roosevelt

Principal Consultant, Maat Consulting Services

Telephone: (510) 325-1467
Email: Michael.Roosevelt@jud.ca.gov

Mr. Michael Roosevelt has undergraduate and graduate degrees from San Francisco State University. As a consultant, he has trained lawyers, judges, teachers, and school administrators about cultural differences and how to effectively work with people from different backgrounds. Mr. Roosevelt maintains that people learn best when they interact with each other and the instructor or facilitator. Since 1998, Mr. Roosevelt has been a judicial educator for the Judicial Council of California, where he has specialized in designing programs for judicial officers, lawyers, court staff and administrators on diversity matters. In 1998, he developed and taught, "Beyond Bias: Assuring Fairness in the Courts", a fairness and diversity curriculum for court staff.  This three-hour training consisted of modules on culture, bias, stereotypes, perception, disability, and sexual orientation. This comprehensive curriculum was designed and delivered to reach 15,000 court employees. To reach that audience, he delivered the curriculum and conducted train-the-trainers throughout the state of California. The curriculum has become the standard throughout the state for covering diversity topics. Recently, Mr. Roosevelt designed a new program, "Sexual Orientation Fairness in the California Court", which is intended to help court employees and judicial officers interact without bias against gays and lesbians who come into contact with, or work in, the court system. The above training includes a discussion of unconscious biases that impede interaction between people. While programs he designs deal with difficult and challenging subjects, he delivers programs in a manner that reduces resistance to the topic or subject. He has designed and taught a course on identifying bias in opinion writing for appellate attorneys. Mr. Roosevelt is former chair of the National Association of Judicial Educators Diversity Committee and Director for the Western Region. He has served as staff to the Judicial Council Access and Fairness Advisory Committee and as a member of the State Bar’s Pipeline Committee. A committee designed to increase diversity in the legal profession. Over the last eight years, Mr. Roosevelt has conducted cultural simulation or experiential activities with professionals to help them identify implicit and unconscious bias. He has worked with primary and middle school teachers and administrators on diversity and cultural infusion. Mr. Roosevelt is at ease facilitating, what may at times appear to be difficult or challenging subjects or topics in the workplace and society.