Michael J. Nozile Sr. has served as the CEO/Executive Director of Gang Alternative, Inc. since 2005. This nonprofit organization was birthed out of the need to provide positive alternatives to youth plagued by the realities of living in high violence, high crime communities in Miami-Dade County. Michael is responsible for leading Gang Alternative in the provision of services under five pillars of work, namely: Positive Youth Development; Family Strengthening; Health and Wellness; Workforce Development; and Community Upliftment and Partnerships.
Under Michael’s leadership, Gang Alternative Inc. has become a local and national catalyst for organizing, mobilizing and strengthening drug-free coalitions. In 2009, recognizing that substance abuse among youth was getting progressively high in the communities of Liberty City and Little Haiti, Michael led Gang Alternative in starting the area’s first drug-free coalition to facilitate collaborative planning, targeted capacity building and resource leveraging among 12 sectors. Its reputation in successful coalition-building led Gang Alternative to be awarded funding from SAMHSA in 2011 for the Urban Partnership Drug-Free Community Coalition UPDFCC’ 2015 and 2017 to mentor Hogar CREA (Puerto Rico) and Coalicion Esperenza (West Little Havana), respectively. Additionally, Gang Alternative has successfully implemented projects under the Sober Truth on Preventing Underage Drinking Act (STOP) since 2016. Also, GA was awarded to provide coalition mentoring in North Miami and East Little Havana through South Florida Behavioral Health Network.
With an aim of continued performance excellence, Michael led his organization in becoming fully accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities in Case Management, Services Coordination and Prevention.
Prior to Gang Alternative, Michael served as Executive Director of Weed and Seed, a community-based organization focused on reducing and preventing crime while revitalizing the community. His work experience in community development and human services is extensive and includes serving as a Juvenile Probation Officer, Mental Health Therapist, and Youth and Family Counselor.
Michael is a graduate of the National Coalition Academy and is often called upon to provide guidance on coalition-building. Recently on behalf of SAMHSA, at the CADCA Mid-Year Training Institute, he presented on the “Impacting Trauma In Urban Communities Using a Coalition Framework”.
Michael holds leadership positions on numerous executive boards including serving as Chair of the South Florida Coalition Alliance, a quad-county drug and alcohol prevention association (Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade, and Monroe Counties); and as Chair of Hope for Miami, a youth prevention and family strengthening agency. He also serves on the Miami-Dade County School Board’s Diversity, Equity and Excellence Advisory Committee. Michael is a Certified John Maxwell Leadership, Coach, Trainer and Speaker and was recipient of the National Association of Social Workers (Miami Dade Unit)’s Outstanding Community Service Award.
A native of Haiti, Michael received his undergraduate degree in Criminal Justice and his master’s degree in Public Administration from Florida International University. His greatest joy and reward continues to be that of being a father and positive role model to many youth.
