Michael ChitwoodChief Philanthropy Officer

Michael Chitwood joined Opportunity International in 2022 to help grow impact through private donors, organizational brand awareness, and innovations in donor engagement as Opportunity works to alleviate extreme global poverty.

Michael brings deep experience in building high-performing and multi-disciplinary teams that are passionate about their calling to help alleviate extreme global poverty. Prior to joining Opportunity, Michael served for 16 years at World Vision USA, where he was most recently the Executive Director of Church and Ministry Partnerships and led a global, multi-functional, 100-person team in partnering with individual churches, church networks, and ministry partners. He also founded Team World Vision, the fastest growing endurance charity program in the United States and top generator of new donors with over 50,000 volunteers and $100 million raised.

In addition to his experience developing and implementing new fundraising programs, Michael is an established author and public speaker. He holds a Master of Social Work from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Bachelor of Science from Olivet Nazarene University.

Michael is a passionate advocate for justice and serves on the board of Collective Chicago, a non-profit organization dedicated to community development and creating a space for young men with a history of homelessness to change their trajectory in life.

He lives in Oak Park, Illinois, with his wife Dani and their son Cruz. In his spare time, he enjoys endurance running, rock climbing, and playing the guitar in the two-piece-band “Rhythm and Cruz” with his son.