For Michael Swords ’92, actions speak louder than words.
The vice president of government relations at Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI) knows that climate change is going to be the defining issue of the 21st century. While he knows every bit helps, his advice to live a greener life this Earth Week is to focus on changes in policy at all governmental levels.
“Reducing your personal carbon footprint is important,” Swords said. “But what needs to happen over the next several decades is systemic change. Where you can really have the biggest impact is to vote for public officials who commit to fighting climate change and to go into government and try to make a difference.”
Swords has been passionate about the environment since he was small, hiking, camping, and fishing with the Boy Scouts. He’s always been conscious of the need to protect nature, and becoming a father himself has only strengthened his commitment to addressing climate change and leaving behind a better world for the next generation.
Swords and his three brothers grew up in Philadelphia and attended Girard College, a boarding school for orphans in grades first through 12th. His father died in prison when Swords was 3 years old, and Swords was the first person in his family to graduate from both high school and college.
He knew he wanted to bid farewell to Philadelphia and was inspired to move to Los Angeles because of the 1984 Olympics. As luck would have it, Whittier had a booth at a college fair he attended.
“I knew that the only way I was going to have upward mobility was to get a college degree,” Swords said. “I grabbed a trifold flyer, and the rest is history.”
At Whittier, his political science instructors helped him realize his professional calling. Professors Fred Bergerson, John Neu, Mike McBride, Joyce Kaufman, and Lois Oppenheim taught him how much impact government can have on people’s livelihoods. Since then, he’s been motivated to make a positive difference through public policy.
“I had been the beneficiary of the social safety net, and I wanted to have a career that would help protect the social safety net, help protect the environment, and help make people's lives better,” Swords said.
Outside of class, he was a football player and a member of the Franklins and Sachsens societies.
After graduating, Swords returned to Philadelphia to work on the 1992 Clinton-Gore presidential campaign. He went on to work in Washington, D.C., for five years doing various jobs before eventually returning to California and joining the University of California, Los Angeles’ federal government relations department. There, he helped build LACI and became one of its first three board members before transitioning to a full-time role at the incubator. He’s been with LACI for 10 years.
“I've been able to go to work every day knowing that I'm helping to build a green and inclusive economy here in Los Angeles, and it's very rewarding,” Swords said.
If students today hope to have a similar experience in government, Swords recommends internships to help determine exactly what job they may want. He said Whittier College’s liberal arts education is the perfect opportunity to identify a field such as climate change that will be important in the coming years.
“Getting into climate action is something that could be incredibly fulfilling, and we really need the best and the brightest of this upcoming generation to go into climate action,” Swords said.
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