Page 8 - 2026_ISSUE 1_AMIkids Yacht Donor Magazine

MIKE STEELE

For Mike, life has always been connect-
ed to the water. “My grandfather had a
pontoon boat, my dad a little john boat,
and by the time I was eight or ten, I was
learning to ski behind a 12-foot john boat
on the Mississippi,” he recalls. “We were
always on the water, always learning
something new. Looking back, those ex-
periences taught me confidence and de-
termination—qualities every young per-
son deserves the chance to build.”
S That early connection carried into adult-

IE hood and fueled Mike’s entrepreneurial
spirit. A successful businessman who
built his company from the ground up, he
knows firsthand the value of taking chanc-
TOR es and working hard.

That same mindset guided his support
of AMIkids through the Yacht Donation
Program. Over the years, he leased, pur-
chased, and ultimately donated a yacht to

S the organization.
“Their mission really

resonated with me—
it checked all the
DONOR
boxes,” Mike says.

For AMIkids, those “boxes” mean em-
powering young people with education,
skills, and confidence to succeed. For
Mike, it means giving back in a way that
feels both natural and meaningful. His
own journey—defined by risk-taking, re-
silience, and seizing opportunities—re-
flects the values he hopes every young
person can embrace.

05