Mike Klassen
Mike started coaching at sixteen, training as a certified tennis club pro and learning to coax effort out of reluctant toddlers, sulky teenagers and adults who just wanted to hit the ball harder. It turns out that skill set transfers remarkably well to international development. He spent four years building innovative programs at a leadership institute at the University of Toronto, where he studied how professionals actually develop leadership capability (spoiler: rarely in a classroom).
Now based in the UK, Mike’s coaching work with project directors, country directors and technical teams blends MSD knowledge with a focus on the human side of leading complex programs — navigating donor pressure, building adaptive teams, and managing the mess that systems work inevitably creates. He has coached leaders individually and in groups, facilitated team-wide interventions that bridge technical and operational silos, and co-authored sector-wide tools including the BEAM Exchange’s MSD Team Leader competency framework. Mike is likely the youngest coach on this team and perpetually soaking up learning like a sponge.