founder
Community Builder
Founder of Minglespace
Michael Anthony Kirsch
Michael Anthony Kirsch founded Minglespace LLC, a community-building company based in Milwaukee, WI, after embracing his calling to serve others by creating more opportunities for people to connect in person. From Stevens Point, WI, he's long been drawn to ideas that create lasting social impact—an interest that shaped both his academic path and career. He holds a BA in History from George Mason University and an MS in Mathematics in Finance from NYU’s Courant Institute. He is the author of The Challenge of Credit Supply: American Problems and Solutions, 1650–1950, a concise, historically grounded study of how American banking and credit policies shaped three centuries of economic growth. Before dedicating himself full time to Minglespace, he worked on the Modeling, Credit, and Liquidity Team at KPMG.
Letter from the Founder
In early 2023, I began exploring how to encourage more meaningful interactions and help people feel a stronger sense of community in the places they already spend time. Around that time, I came across the Surgeon General’s report on loneliness and the growing national conversation about the importance of social connection. Discovering this—along with the work of groups like the Foundation for Social Connection, and later reading Together by Vivek Murthy—gave me confidence that I was on the right track.
As I attended events and visited familiar places, I started noticing a common challenge: even in social settings, there often wasn’t a clear way to meet someone new. That’s when I saw what was missing—something so simple. In many of these places filled with people, there was no obvious way to signal openness to conversation. And then it hit me: why aren’t there clearly marked areas, created by places themselves, where people are encouraged to introduce themselves and spark conversation? Once I noticed it, I couldn’t unsee it.
Minglespaces was one of several ideas I had originally imagined as part of a broader civic initiative—including tools to support connection-driven events and a network of neighborhood connectors—but this was the one I felt most strongly about bringing into being. Later that fall, I attended the Building Connected Communities Conference in Boston, where I heard from inspiring leaders in the field and met other local community builders. It was encouraging to meet others who were thinking about similar questions, and to feel part of a growing community.
Before the concept took shape, I had begun working on a project called Prospecting for Dreams—a plan to interview 100 people in Milwaukee from different backgrounds about their ideas and visions for the future. I wanted to spark imagination and uncover the shared dreams of a city. The questions I used—about creativity, community, and personal goals—later became the foundation for the conversation prompts featured at minglespaces.
Our mission is to partner with places of all kinds—cafés, parks, universities, festivals, and more—to create dedicated spaces where connection happens naturally. I’m excited to collaborate with communities across the country to test, refine, and develop this new piece of social infrastructure—one minglespace at a time.
—Michael Anthony
