Michael Flaherty, President and CEO
Mike Flaherty formed Flaherty & Associates in 1999 – a firm that has served nearly 150 clients in both the public and private sectors on issues ranging from energy projects to health care reform to the state’s new smoke free laws.
As an elected public official, a long-time journalist, and a senior lecturer at UW-Madison for two decades, Mike Flaherty specializes in assisting organizations and their leaders in understanding and framing difficult issues – then strategically assisting those leaders in building support for those issues and their organizations.
Flaherty’s 25 years of media experience is likely the longest and most diverse of any public relations consultant in Wisconsin. His career included 10 years at the Wisconsin State Journal as a prize-winning political and business reporter, publisher of a weekly newspaper in Milton, Washington correspondent for Dow Jones Inc.’s daily newspaper group, city editor for a mid-sized Minnesota daily newspaper and Midwest editor for a national dairy magazine. His career even included brief stints in radio, occasional TV appearances, and contributions to several public policy magazines.