While 2016 recipient Niyompong hasn’t zeroed in on exactly what to do with his fellowship, one thing is for sure: it will be something that moves him out of his comfort zone.
“Up until this point, I’ve been very left brain-focused. It has served me well in my career, but I’ve always wanted to explore the right side, so I’m thinking my fellowship will have something to do with the arts, either visual or performing. I might take an acting class or learn to do improvisational comedy. The thought of doing improv scares me tremendously, but it excites me, too.”
He is also considering trips abroad — to study architecture in Rome or Paris and to visit Australia, where a friend’s father can teach him how to make pottery.
Niyompong, 37, was born in Denver and spent his early years in Bangkok.
“My parents came to Colorado to study for their graduate degrees. We moved back to Thailand (where his mother was an economist for a research institute and his father was director of operations for Thai Airways) when I was 5 and when I finished fourth grade they sent me back to Denver to live with an aunt and uncle while I finished my education.”
He earned a bachelor of science degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder, an MBA in finance and a master of science degree in operations management, both from the University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business.
While at DU, he was co-president of the campus chapter of Net Impact, a nonprofit dedicated to encouraging corporate responsibility and harnessing the power of business to improve the world. He also traveled to Uganda and Rwanda with Van Leeuwen, his former spouse, to study innovative solutions to poverty and to better understand the challenges and issues that distress developing countries.
He is a 2011 graduate of Leadership Denver and currently serves on the boards of the Denver Metro Chamber Leadership Foundation, the Colorado Nonprofit Development Center and the Rocky Mountain PBS community advisory board.
In addition, he has volunteered with Project Angel Heart, delivering food to those with life-threatening illnesses; was a member of the founding board of the Academy of Urban Learning, a Denver Public School District charter school that serves at-risk, highly mobile youth; and served on the Denver Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Commission.
Prior to joining Clayton Early Learning, Niyompong was in charge of technology and facilities at Mile High United Way and vice president at Rebound Solutions, where his first clients were Clayton Early Learning and Denver’s Road Home.
He provided high-tech solutions for Clayton Early Learning and helped Denver’s Road Home refresh its strategy.
“Michael is one of those quietly strong leaders who has the ability to completely impact your life — or the culture of an organization — but you don’t recognize it until much later. And then you realize it was game-changing,” says his former boss, Christine Benero, president and chief executive officer of Mile High United Way.
“He has the uncanny ability to listen beyond just words and understand what is truly occurring,” Benero adds. “Couple that skill with his rich diversity of relationships across the community and he has become one of the most impactful young leaders Denver has today.”
Mary Spillane, the community investment manager for Comcast, adds: “I’ve always been impressed by, and inspired by, his vision and his desire to think big to achieve the best possible results. He is deliberate and thoughtful. He inspires great energy and great action.”
He’s also open to new possibilities.
“When I received my MBA, I didn’t have any aspirations to be an executive director or a CEO,” he says. “I wanted to be a chief operating officer because that’s how my brain is wired. It wasn’t until I got to Clayton Early Learning that my thinking began to shift.”
Outside of work and his numerous community involvements, Niyompong enjoys tending the garden at his home in Denver’s Harvard Gulch neighborhood, attending charity functions and hiking with friends like philanthropist and agent of change Carrie Morgridge and her husband, John. “I haven’t climbed a 14er yet, but Carrie has vowed to get me up one.”
He hasn’t ruled out politics, although “Running for office probably isn’t likely. However, I can see a cabinet position or being chief of staff for someone in whom I strongly believe.”
The Livingston Fellowships are named for Johnston R. Livingston, a prominent Colorado philanthropist who had a passion for innovation, entrepreneurism and creativity. He was chairman emeritus of the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation board when he died in 2008.
“What a wonderful legacy Mr. Livingston left for us,” Niyompong said. “We all go into it believing that it’s going to change our lives and in turn enable us to change others’ lives (for the better). I wonder what he would think if he were still around.”
