Michael Verchot

Director | Ascend and University of Washington’s Consulting and Business Development Center

Michael Verchot is the founding director of the University of Washington’s Consulting and Business Development Center and a Lecturer in the Marketing Department at the Michael G. Foster School of Business. He is also the National Lead for Ascend – a nation’s largest ecosystem network focused on the growth of businesses owned by people of color, women, and veterans.
Michael has received numerous awards including:
The National Minority Business Advocate of the Year Award from the US Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency
The Boeing Company’s Supplier Diversity Global Solution Provider
Champion Award from the Northwest Mountain Minority Supplier Development Council
Diversity Award for Community Building from the Office of the Vice President and Vice Provost for Minority Affairs and Diversity at the University of Washington
Lex N. Gamble Award for Excellence in Case Development and Curriculum Innovation from the University of Washington Foster School of Business
President’s Award from the Washington State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Crystal Eagle Award in Education from the Tabor 100 (an association of Black business owners)
Visionary Award from the NW Asian Weekly
Michael is a columnist for Minority Business News USA magazine and co-author of three studies of African American businesses in Washington State and two studies of minority-owned businesses in clean tech. He has served on more than a dozen nonprofit board of directors and governmental advisory committees including the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday Commission. He received his MBA from the Foster School of Business and his undergraduate degree from Springfield College in Massachusetts.