Michael serves as Managing Director and Head of Tusk’s Chicago Office.

Prior to joining Tusk, Michael Cassel was Vice President and Head of Government Affairs at ID.me, where he led the company’s federal, state and local government affairs strategy. Cassel also led ID.me’s communications function, helping tell the story of the market-leading and largest U.S. digital identity wallet.

Before joining ID.me, Cassel spent nearly a decade at Boeing. He rose from Director, Strategy, where he led advocacy campaigns for commercial priorities, to chief of staff for the state and local government operations team while in the DC office. Cassel relocated to then-HQ in Chicago to serve as Director of Global Corporate Citizenship, and later Senior Director of Global Engagement. In that capacity, he managed the company’s charitable giving and community investment portfolio across Chicago and the broader Great Lakes region, government affairs in the Great Lakes region, and enterprise-wide operations to align philanthropic strategy with business priorities.

Earlier in his career, Cassel served in the Obama Administration as Director of White House Services within the Office of Management and Administration, before serving as Deputy Chief of Staff to the Chairman and President of the Export-Import Bank of the United States. He got his start in national politics working on President Obama’s first presidential campaign and the Obama-Biden transition team.

Cassel holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Arizona and a Juris Doctor from DePaul University College of Law. He has been recognized on Crain’s Chicago Business “40 Under 40” list and DePaul University’s “14 Under 40.” He has served on the boards of the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association, the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, the Civic Federation, and the Advisory Council of Becoming a Man (Youth Guidance).