Michael Sexauer’s career so far has taken him across several sectors — he started in the world of direct marketing, which morphed into a marketing role studying customer behavior for the, at the time, fledgling mobile phone industry. A pivot into marketing roles in the banking industry is what brought him to Pittsburgh. After a stint in marketing at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, he then took on roles in the nonprofit sphere, including at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. In 2015, Sexauer came to Holy Family Institute, based in Emsworth, to lead its fundraising arm, the Holy Family Foundation. In 2019, he was elevated to the role of COO of Holy Family Institute and in 2022 became president. This year, after longtime CEO Sister Linda Yankoski transitioned to the role of president emerita, Sexauer became CEO, the first layperson to take on the role at the organization, which offers programs for 40,000 local families in need that include coaching and counseling, energy bill assistance, a tuition-free Catholic preparatory high school and housing for unaccompanied minors awaiting sponsorship in the U.S.
Where are you from originally?
I grew up in Erie. My dad worked for GE Transportation. My mother was a nurse. She was from Wexford, Marshall Township and went to North Allegheny, moved to Erie after she got her nursing degree at Allegheny General Hospital and met my father in Erie. So she stayed. My wife is from Erie. We moved to North Carolina in 1995 just to get out of town and be somewhere different. It was a great experience. We were there five years and then came back to Pennsylvania, but didn’t go all the way back to Erie.
Click here to read more from Pittsburgh’s Business Times’ Q&A with Sexauer.
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