Michael Schmale became a CASA-NYC volunteer advocate in 2022, working primarily with older youths, and joined the CASA-NYC board in 2025. His previous experience working with and empowering young people includes two years as a Yale-China Teaching Fellow in rural Anhui Province, and his time as a writing advisor with Minds Matter NYC. Michael earned his JD from the University of Michigan Law School, where he chaired the Student Funded Fellowships board, and moved to NYC in 2014 to work in corporate law before turning his focus to fiction writing. He lives with his husband in Brooklyn where he serves as treasurer and chicken tender at the Warren-St. Marks Community Garden.