Michael Gallagher has served the public schools of Santa Clara County for more than thirty-five years as a high school teacher, counselor, and associate principal, as a middle school principal, as a district-level leader, and recently as Superintendent of Schools for Sunnyvale School District.

He earned MA degrees in Counseling Education and Educational Administration and a BA degree in English (’87), all from Santa Clara University. Michael earned a Doctor of Education degree from San Francisco State University while focusing on describing and supporting effective teachers in high poverty schools. He is recognized as an expert in Interest Based Bargaining and in supporting the social-emotional and cultural dimensions of teaching and learning for students, teachers, and staff.

He is a past Board President for Sunnyvale Community Services and of Sunnyvale Rotary. He is an advisory board member for the Center for Reaching and Teaching the Whole Child and for Santa Clara University’s College of Counseling, Psychology and Education.
Michael teaches in the Educational Leadership programs at Santa Clara University and San José State University. He is founder and Chief Leadership Consultant of ReflectFWD, focusing on empowering and growing education leaders and their teams.