
Michael Fosberg
Author and Activist
Michael Fosberg began his performing artist career as a young student at the prestigious intensive theater training program at Northwestern University, The National High School Institute where he has returned to serve as a faculty member the past seven years. He went on to study acting, directing, and writing in Minneapolis, graduating from the University…
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Full Bio
Michael Fosberg began his performing artist career as a young student at the prestigious intensive theater training program at Northwestern University, The National High School Institute where he has returned to serve as a faculty member the past seven years. He went on to study acting, directing, and writing in Minneapolis, graduating from the University of Minnesota.
While still attending school he founded the Small Change Original Theater; producing, writing, directing tours, and conducting workshops for kids of all ages throughout Minnesota, Wisconsin, North & South Dakota. In Chicago during the ‘80’s he appeared in shows at Steppenwolf, Remains, Wisdom Bridge, and the Goodman Theatres, as well as co-founding the Huron Theater Ensemble and serving as the Artistic Director.
While in Los Angeles he dabbled in television and film while continuing his work with young students as the Director of Education for the Living Library Theatre and a teacher/director for South Coast Repertory’s Young Actor’s Conservatory program. He was a guest artist at the Sundance Institute’s summer residency program, teaching educators how to utilize drama in the classrooms. Back in Chicago in the late ‘90’s he wrote and directed much of the family entertainment at Navy Pier.
Michael has been touring his autobiographical solo-show Incognito since 2001, first at the celebrated Sundance Institute, and following to the California African American Museum, Bailiwick Repertory Theatre, Apple Tree Theatre, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Mercury Theatre, Illinois Theatre Center, Victory Gardens Theatre, Cape May Stage, Woodstock Fringe Festival, Black Academy of Arts & Letters, Beverly Arts Center, Monticello Opera House, Northlight Theatre, and the 16th Street Theatre. For the past seven years he has toured to hundreds of high schools, colleges, corporations, military bases, and governmental institutions through out the country presenting his show and conducting extensive workshops. In addition he has been asked to perform his show as the Keynote Presentation for a variety of organizations including Iowa Mosaic Diversity Conference, NASA Glen Research Center, The National Training Center for the US Army at Ft. Irwin, People of Color Conference for the National Association of Independent Schools, Midwest Regional Office of the Social Security Administration, Chester County Hospital, Quest Diagnostics, Penn St. Great Valley Annual Diversity Day, Ulster County BOCES Superintendent’s Day, Shreveport Dream Week at Centenary College, Sam Houston St. University 4th
Annual Diversity Leadership Conference, University of Chicago Martin Luther King Week, Florida International Diversity Conference, University of South Florida Annual Diversity Summit, Phillips Andover MLK Day Celebration, University of Kentucky Annual Diversity Day, and University of North Dakota Diversity Week.
Recently, Michael released his much anticipated memoir, “Incognito: An American Odyssey of Race & Self-Discovery” which delves more deeply into his amazing personal account of familial discovery upon which the original one-man play is based.
Testimonials
Ernie was perfect for our Elders Conference at Little River Casino Resort in Manistee, Michigan. We will definitely be using PDA again!

LITTLE RIVER BAND OF OTTAWA INDIANS
Our speaker was great and the crowd enjoyed her! She was very engaging. Thank you again PDA for the great list of suggestions!

MEDTRONIC
Everything went great! and our speaker was wonderful! Thank you so much for all your help PDA! Looking forward to the next one.

UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI – KANSAS CITY
I hope that this message finds you well. We had a phenomenal time with Atsuko this past Thursday. We wanted to just let you know how amazing she was. All those that were in attendance thoroughly enjoyed her and had nothing but amazing things to say about her. Thank you for working with us to make sure this happened!

BAYLOR UNIVERSITY CAMPUS
We had a fantastic day with Inge! She was very engaging with all those that attended. Her personal stories about the holocaust were very special and we were moved that she was willing to share them with everyone. Thank you again, PDA for all your hard work and dedication to make this program such a success!

SALT LAKE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Dear PDA Group, Thank you so much for your hard work in scheduling our speaker! From the moment we reached out to you the first time, you worked with us on all details and logistics and kept us up-to-date on the progress. Thank you for all your hard work on making our event such a success! We couldn't have done it without you and your team!

SAP COMPANY
Thank you again, Dr. Kimbrough, for a great presentation, our attendees are still talking about it!

CAMPUS LABS
Dr. Henry Lee's presentation was entertaining, insightful and wise. I, and everyone at Pfizer, especially appreciate the remarks you directed about following your passion and preparing yourself to excel. Thank you, everyone, at PDA for helping to make this happen!

PFIZER
The event was successful! I received many messages expressing how awesome, outstanding and inspiring Ms. Webb-Christburg's speech was."

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. MEMORIAL BREAKFAST, BOSTON, MLK SPEAKER
Everything went well. Atsuko was very easy to work with and the students enjoyed her performance! Thank you again for your recommendation and I hope to work with you again in the future!

CENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY
Dr. Novello left this morning after a very successful event on our campus! Thank you PDA Group for your help from the first phone to the last you were with us every step of the way.

GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY
Jordan Carlos was very very entertaining! A majority of students who answered the event survey indicated they really enjoyed Jordan and definitely will bring him back!

WESTERN CAROLINA UNIVERSITY
On behalf of myself and my organization Entertainment Unlimited the Campus Programming Board of Ferris State University, we thank you PDA and Dan for a successful event!! Dan was magnificent! Students really enjoyed the presentation. I know I did. Can't wait to bring in more programs with PDA Group.

FERRIS STATE UNIVERSITY
It was a great pleasure to work with PDA Group! The communication was always prompt, friendly and helpful. We loved the speakers and events we booked through Mr. Peter Walker (PDA Group).

WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY
Thank you, Peter, for all your help, you'll be happy to know that the event went incredibly well! Aneesa Ferreira was by far one of the best speakers we've ever had!

FURMAN UNIVERSITY
Topics
Incognito, Inc. is an arts-based diversity educational & training company led by author/actor/activist Michael Fosberg. Through the use of an entertaining one-man play, unique hands-on workshop/training sessions and engagingly challenging keynote addresses, Incognito has proven to be a one of a kind program used by educational institutions, corporations, government agencies, military bases and not-for-profits. Incognito is a dynamic & dramatic teaching/training tool that creates safe, non-threatening and meaningful dialogue on issues of unconscious bias, micro-inequities, cultural competency, diversity, identity and race.
Michael’s uniquely refreshing approach utilizes methods of interpersonal contact theory, storytelling and enjoyably engaging interactive methods in challenging people’s preconceived perceptions about difficult issues. Whether it is issues of cultural competency, uncovering biases, defining the harmful effects of micro-inequities, or simply giving people the space to discover all the ways in which we have similarities, Incognito succeeds where others don’t.
If someone said to you, there’s a way to be more productive, make more money, get a better education, you’d want to learn more about what that was, wouldn’t you? DIVERSITY is that answer and there are studies with PROOF! Recent research by McKinsey makes clear that a more diverse workforce performs better financially.(1) Another study of investment clubs discovered that groups of men & women outperformed single-sex groups. A worldwide study of 4000+ R & D teams found that diverse teams were much better at driving radical innovation.(2) And a study published recently in PLos One by a team of researchers from M.I.T. and Carnegie Mellon shows how teams with more women than men outperform their counterparts. By contributing more equally, having a better sense of empathy through direct eye contact, and communicating a great deal, these teams proved to be smarter and more effective.(3)
The importance of this last study cannot be over-emphasized; equal contributions, better communication, and the ability to keep track of what people feel, know and believe make for the smartest, efficient and most productive teams. “The snag,” as a recent New Yorker business column points out, “is that, while diverse groups perform well, they can be harder to manage and more challenging to work in than homogeneous ones, precisely because diverse perspectives lead to more disagreement and conflict. So even when the results are better, people are less happy with the experience. To fix this, you have to consciously reshape how people deal with one another, and that entails some cultural disruption. But it’s a price worth paying.”(4)
(1) Why diversity matters, Vivian Hunt, Dennis Layton, and Sam Prince, McKinsey Co., Jan 2015
(2) Gender diversity within R&D teams: Its impact on radicalness of innovation, Christina Diaz-Garcia, Angela Gonzalez-Moreno, Francisco Jose Saez-Martinez, Innovation: Management, Policy & Practice, 2013 (3) Why Some Teams Are Smarter Than Others, Anita Woolley, Thomas W. Malone, Christopher F. Chabris, New York Times, Jan 16, 2015
(4) Valley Boys, James Surowiecki, The New Yorker Magazine, Nov. 24, 2014
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Michael Fosberg
Michael Fosberg on the advantages of being mixed race
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