Michael Scott Carter

Michael Scott Carter (born August 21, 1979) is the Founder and Director of the Chicago Academy of Music and the associated consulting firm CAM{Creative}. Carter also is a member of the United Nations Leading Group on Innovative Financing,^[1] as well as serving on the Advisory board for Illinois State Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka.^[2] Previously, Carter worked as the Chief Economist at the Chicago Urban League's Entrepreneurship Center. On April 17, 2013, Carter officially announced his intention to run as a Republican candidate for Illinois State Treasurer in the 2014 election.^[3]

Michael Scott Carter

Early life

Carter was raised in Roseland, a neighborhood in the South Side of Chicago. He came from a middle-class background, with his single-mother running a neighborhood drug store, a long-time family business. At the age of thirteen, Carter learned that his mother had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. For the next several years of his life, his mother's increasing health problems dominated his life: as a result of the costs of her treatment, the Carter family began to suffer from financial problems. Carter finished Morgan Park High School early and headed off to college. Shortly thereafter, his mother passed. This tragic event, coupled with mounting financial difficulties, led Carter to take time away from his studies and enlist in the Navy. While in the Navy, Carter began training to become a Navy SEAL. During the training process, Carter severely injured his knee, preventing him from continuing his training. As a result, he received an Honorable discharge from the Navy.^[4]

Education

After his discharge from the Navy, Carter moved to England in order to attend the University of Buckingham, where he studied degrees in economics, politics and law. As a foreigner, Carter did not qualify for "Home" tuition costs or student loans.^[5] This, coupled with his family's financial problems, forced Carter to finance his own way through college, which he did by creating e-commerce businesses and being an on air TV and radio economic and political contributor.^[6] Carter graduated with the US-degree equivalents of a Masters of Arts in Economics and Politics and a Juris Doctor.^[7]

Professional Life

After graduating from the University of Buckingham, Carter began a career in corporate finance in Europe: over time, his work in corporate finance led him around the world, particularly Africa and South and Central America. In his time in London, where Carter met his South American wife, Fabiana Carter. In the late 2000s, they moved from Brazil to Chicago, settling in to Hyde Park, where they have recently had a son to accompany their first son. Since returning to the United States, Carter has been working on developing a non-profit dedicated to free music education for under-privileged children throughout the South and West Sides of Chicago. This effort, called the Chicago Academy of Music, or CAM, is in its final stages of development, with the first academy currently under construction in West Woodlawn.^[8] Branching from CAM are several side projects being developed by Carter, which serve in large part to help finance the efforts of the Academy. Most notably is Carter's consulting firm, CAM{Creative}, which employs creative solutions to the problems of small businesses.^[9] In April 2013, Carter announced his intention to run for the office of Illinois State Treasurer on the Republican ballot. The primary election will be held on March 18, 2014.^[10]

References