Mike Cortés is Scholar-in-Residence at the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work, where he teaches courses in Policy Analysis and Development, and Social Policy Advocacy. He has held faculty and administrative appointments at the University of California, Berkeley, the University of San Francisco, the University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Denver. In the 1970s, Mike was founding Vice-President for Research, Advocacy, and Legislation at the National Council of la Raza in Washington, D.C. The public policy program he led continues to grow in influence in Washington, state capitals, and Latino communities across the nation. A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Mike left Washington to return to California to serve as Director of Planning, Finance, and Administration in the Corporate Community Affairs Department at Levi Strauss & Co. and the Levi Strauss Foundation."

Mike Cortés research interest includes: Elderly Latinos in the U.S.: changing characteristics and implications for public policy. Building capacity for policy analysis and advocacy in public charities. Improving policy analysis curricula in schools of social work.