Mike Howland was a politician in the making.
His father was a local government administrator.
He was student government president at Jacksonville University, where he obtained a political science degree.
He also was student government president at St. Louis University, where he was the first person to graduate with dual degrees in law and master of public administration.
At his law school graduation ceremony, it was announced Howland was going to Washington to be a presidential management intern — but only until he returned home to run for U.S. Congress.
“Everyone thought that would happen and I probably thought so, too,” the Jacksonville Speech and Hearing Center president and CEO said. “Certainly, I envisioned a life in politics.”
But during an eight-year stint as a U.S. Small Business Administration executive following his internship, he concluded a politician’s life wasn’t for him.
Howland, who turns 62 Thursday, especially didn’t fancy the notion of continually raising election funds.
“I kind of moved on from the idea of ever running for office and never looked back,” he said.
Rather, Howland has had a wide-ranging executive-level, cross-country journey in the government, philanthropy and nonprofit arenas.
Since 2014, he has led the Speech and Hearing Center, a 67-year-old organization that served about 4,500 Northeast Florida residents with speech, hearing and language disorders in its last fiscal year.
“I have been incredibly blessed to enjoy the myriad experiences I’ve had,” he said.
A busy career
A Horseheads, N.Y., native, Howland’s first foray to Northeast Florida was on a Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps scholarship at Jacksonville University, where he also was an aspiring soccer player.
When a serious knee injury derailed his military career and athletic hopes, he didn’t slow down.
Howland served as the university’s newspaper editor and student government president.
“I probably wouldn’t have done either of those things if my knee was intact,” he said. “I think that was my first valuable lesson of one door closing and another opening."
Howland’s student government participation, law studies and internship boosted an inherent interest in public policy that was instigated by his father’s career as a local government manager. His mother was an educator.
“My parents both inspired me in lots of ways,” he said.
Howland thrived with the Small Business Administration, becoming the agency’s San Francisco director at age 31 and receiving the Arthur S. Flemming Award for exceptional contributions to the federal government.
He helped facilitate the SBA’s disaster relief after two California earthquakes and a firestorm, and ran the nation’s largest SBA district after the notorious Los Angeles riots.
He later was appointed acting SBA regional administrator in the administrations of Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, overseeing programs in California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii, Guam and the Trust Territories.
Howland’s SBA service was during an era when, as he puts it, America was just discovering impacts small businesses have on the economy.
“I look back with great pride at all the people we were able to help realize their dream of operating their own businesses,” he said.
Howland embraced professional development — and opportunities to relocate. From 1994-96, he served as president and CEO of Independent Charities of America in San Francisco; from 1996-2002, he led Christian Service Charities in Springfield, Va.; and in 2003, he became president and CEO of Noble of Indiana.
At Noble, Howland led a team of about 200 employees that provided services to people with developmental disabilities and their families.
“It was extraordinarily meaningful to create opportunities for people with developmental disabilities and to be their champion,” he said.
With the Noble gig and as president and CEO of the Southeastern Council of Foundations from 2008-11, Howland honed his skills as an innovative fundraiser and developed and realized the value of organizations having strong and engaged boards of directors.
He also applied those skills to the classroom, serving as an adjunct Indiana University professor from 2006-08.
Ever-involved with JU while on campus and later as an Alumni Board and Board of Trustees member, Howland returned to his alma mater in 2011 as vice president for university of advancement.
He also served as chief strategic relations officer.
“It was an amazing opportunity to be able to return to JU, connect with old friends and make new ones, and help the university grow,” he said.
Each job Howland has taken resulted from relationships he developed through the years. He concedes when a fellow JU alumnus told him about the Speech and Hearing Center opening, he’d never heard of the organization.
“The more I looked into it, the more I felt like I’d like to go back to a world where I saw the people I was helping every day,” he said.
Around the same time, his young grandson, Jimmy, was experiencing hearing challenges.
The center’s patients pay fees based on need and insurance.
“I realized that if Jimmy was in a family without means, he wouldn’t be getting the great care that he’s getting,” Howland said. “That was a big factor in me taking the position.”
The Hearing Health Foundation says more than 50 million Americans have hearing loss and at least three-quarters of those have never been treated, many for financial reasons.
Founded by the Junior League of Jacksonville, the center provides screenings, evaluations and treatment for people with communication disorders related to speech and hearing.
The center’s most valuable volunteer may be Howland’s wife, Cathy.
She has helped with human resources and fundraising, and now oversees the organization’s operations at 1128 N. Laura St. as a full-time volunteer.
Howland’s office is in the Jessie Ball duPont Center at 40 E. Adams St.
A love for baseball
In addition to photos and three adult children, Howland’s office is prominently decorated with mementos from two other passions — JU and baseball.
His love for baseball began when his father took him to Stan Musial Day at the Polo Grounds in New York.
He has visited 35 other Major League Baseball stadiums, including many that have since closed, and was a season-ticket holder in four cities.
He twice threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Candlestick Park in San Francisco and attended three consecutive World Series from 1988-90.
In 1989, Howland was outside Candlestick Park when an earthquake occurred just before game time. The ballpark was damaged and the power was knocked out, postponing the series for 10 days.
“All of a sudden the ground started to move and the cars were rocking back and forth just like they were boats in a harbor,” Howland said. “It was profoundly like something out of a movie.”
He’s a longtime participant in the No Bats Baseball Club, a nonprofit that promotes charity and goodwill through baseball. Founded by JU alumnus Ted Simendinger, the club has raised more than $1.5 million since 1991.
The group gathers annually to socialize and play a casual game of baseball, often in an MLB park.
With No Bats, Howland has padded his baseball-fan resume by playing games at Chicago’s Wrigley Field, San Francisco’s AT&T Stadium and Oakland Coliseum.
“I’ve been very fortunate to do a lot of fun things in my life, and a lot of them have revolved around baseball,” he said.
Including courting his wife — their first date was at a St. Louis Cardinals home baseball game.
Howland’s non-baseball interests outside of work are largely charitable causes.
He chairs the Neighbor to Nation board, is vice chair of the Family Foundations of Northeast Florida and is on Leadership Jacksonville’s Leadership Team.
Howland says while many of his college classmates in Jacksonville and St. Louis planted roots in those cities, he’s benefited greatly from professional and personal relationships he’s made throughout the country.
Indeed, the Howlands’ children — Jim, Chris and Maddy — were born in three different states.
“I’d like to think we’ve made the most of every stop along the way,” he said.