Mr. Fowler holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Ball State University.
Mr. Fowler has 35+ years’ experience in the public policy arena as an association CEO and a board member of various policy-related organizations.
Mr. Fowler held the position of president and CEO for the Small Business Association of Michigan for the last 21 years. Before that he served as the executive director of the Council of Smaller Enterprises at the Greater Cleveland Chamber of Commerce. He also has served on the Board of Directors of the Michigan Health Endowment Fund (first Board Chair), Michigan Society of Association Executives (Chair), Michigan Health Insurance Access Advisory Committee (Chair), National Small Business Association, and Michigan State Housing Development Authority. He recently served on the Steering Committee and as a co-chair of Launch Michigan, a statewide coalition working toward transformational K-12 education reform. He was also elected to the Haslett Board of Education in 2004 where he served for 10 years.
He has led several organizations through strategic planning and implementation of resulting plans. Having served as the CEO of a large statewide association and executive leader of a large regional chamber of commerce he has served as staff leader working with outside consultants on strategic planning. He also has served as board member and board chair of several statewide organizations working with outside consultants on strategic planning and implementation, so he knows what can make a difference for effective processes and actionable strategic plans.