Peachtree City (PTC) native and resident, Michael Polacek (McIntosh ’09), was recently named to Kennesaw State University’s (KSU) inaugural 40 Owls Under 40 class. The new recognition program celebrates KSU alumni who are under 40 and making bold strides in their professions and their communities since graduation. With nearly half of KSU’s alumni under the age of 40, approximately 47,000 KSU and SPSU graduates were eligible for the 40 Owls Under 40 Class of 2025.
Michael graduated from KSU in 2014 with an undergraduate degree in psychology, and later with his graduate degree in public administration from Georgia State University in 2018. He currently works at Piedmont Healthcare as Director of Health and Health Education Policy, where he assists with legislative and policy strategies to advance healthcare and medical workforce initiatives.
Prior to joining Piedmont, Michael accumulated 10 years of public sector experience across the legislative and executive branches of state government, as well as the university system. Michael got his start in state government at the General Assembly, where he helped legislators prepare spending plans for healthcare agencies and provided analysis on healthcare-related legislation.
He has held senior leadership positions at the Georgia Departments of Public Health and Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD). During his time at DBHDD, he worked on several pieces of mental health reform legislation and helped secure an additional $450 million in funding for critical services for individuals living with behavioral health disorders and intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Michael is a first-generation American. In 1986, his parents and sister escaped communist Czechoslovakia and moved to Atlanta after securing their green cards at a political refugee camp in Italy. In 1995, his family moved to PTC where Michael attended PTC schools K-12.
“My parents came here with only a suitcase of clothes and a $100 in cash. Our humble beginnings taught me the importance of hard and honest work, as well as not taking what we have in this country for granted. These values certainly informed my passion for public service and inspired me to pursue a career working for the state that gave my family a shot at the American Dream.”
Upon graduation from KSU, Michael initially planned to become a social worker, but his first job as a program coordinator at KSU’s Center for Young Adult Addiction and Recovery had different plans for him. “After a few years in that role, my passion grew more towards advocacy and healthcare policy. I became energized about informing public policy, rather than just being on the sidelines.”
Michael became involved with Georgia’s efforts to address the opioid epidemic and was invited to be a part of Attorney General Chris Carr’s opioid task force. Along with a research assistantship at the Georgia Health Policy Center, these early experiences ultimately led him to his start in state government at the Georgia House of Representatives’ Budget and Research Office, where he worked as a fiscal and policy analyst covering healthcare.
Over the years, Michael continues to serve and volunteer on several non-profits, spanning from refugee resettlement to addiction prevention. Currently, he serves as Board Chair at that same KSU addiction center he once worked at, where they annually raise $40,000 in student scholarships. At a more local level, he was recently appointed to the newly created recreational advisory board for PTC.
Michael and his wife, Erin, moved back to PTC a few years ago with their two young children. “PTC is the best city in Georgia so it was always going to be the landing spot to raise our family. It is good to be home.”
