Michael Hanley

Currently based out of Oregon, Michael Hanley is an internationally recognized high performance coach, organizational leader, and academic whose career spans Olympic sport, global athlete development, and executive level institutional leadership. Originally hailing from Southern California, Hanley has studied at a graduate level in the United Kingdom, Spain, France and Switzerland where has developed a mastery of awareness. Over more than twenty years, he has coached and mentored athletes who have earned Olympic medals, X Games victories, World Cup podiums, and national titles. His work has shaped elite performers in the North America, New Zealand, China, Brazil, and Europe.

As the Head of School at Wy’East Academy, Hanley oversees the academics, athletics, operations, and residential life for a high performance boarding school that has tripled the increase to assets while maintaining a 100% college acceptance rate and continues to produce Olympians and National Champions in snowboarding, skateboarding, mountain biking and freeskiing. He currently serves on the National Faculty for U.S. Ski & Snowboard, has led international academic accreditation teams, and consults privately for several of the top 10 athletes in the world.

Previously, Hanley served as the High Performance Development Coach for Snow Sports New Zealand, where he helped produce the youngest two Winter Olympic medalists in the nation’s history and contributed to the international medal count increasing from 5 to 22. This was followed by achieving the impossible by developing a program for the Chinese Olympic Committee where they transitioned young summer athletes into Winter Olympians in only three years. His coaching career includes leadership roles with the Chinese National Youth Development Team, the Brazilian Ski Federation, and multiple elite academies he helped build from the ground up.

With past media presence on ESPN, NBC, Associated Press, and the New York Times, Hanley brings a rare blend of elite coaching insight, organizational strategy, and academic depth. He is currently completing a PhD in Early Medieval History, specializing in leadership, legitimacy, and institutional resilience — themes that inform his powerful, actionable keynotes for organizations seeking to perform under pressure and build cultures that win.