Matthew S. Collier

Matthew Samuel Collier is an American entrepreneur, U.S. Army veteran, and politician who served as the mayor of Flint, Michigan from 1987 to 1991. Taking office at 29, he was among the youngest mayors elected in a major city in the United States.

Following his stint as mayor, he served in executive roles with several technology companies. In January 2015, Collier was appointed as Senior Advisor to VA Secretary Bob McDonald at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs where he led public-private partnerships for the agency.

Early life and education Matt Collier was born on November 15, 1957, in Flint, Michigan. Collier grew up on Flint's Northwest side. Collier attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he played hockey and earned a BS in general engineering in 1979.

Following his graduation from West Point, Collier achieved airborne-ranger status, and served as an officer in the U.S. Army for six years. As a captain, in his final military assignment at the High Technology Test Bed in Fort Lewis, Washington, Collier became the youngest program manager in the Army. Shortly after his return to Flint, MI, Collier announced he would seek the office of Mayor of Flint.

Collier has four brothers. Two of them, Mark Collier (USMA '73) and Craig Collier (USMA '86) also graduated from West Point and served as Infantry officers in the U.S. Army. Craig and Mark are career soldiers and have frequently served in combat locations.

Collier was elected with 54 percent of the vote.

The retiring of a $4 million deficit inherited from prior administrations. Collier and his staff achieved a balanced budget each year of his term. The city partnered with General Motors to convert a soon to be closed automobile plant into GM's $110 million, 1.25 million ft2 "Great Lakes Technology Center." This business-government venture is estimated to have resulted in over 7,000 new private sector jobs for Flint.

In response to the film's release, Collier was quoted in newspapers and magazines throughout the United States, including the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Time Magazine, and Collier was featured on ABC's Primetime Live, and other national television programs, challenging the accuracy of the movie. The film did not directly criticize Collier's mayoral performance and the events portrayed in the film took place just prior to and up to the very first months of his term as mayor.

Collier is the Founder and CEO of VetAccel Inc. He is the Chief Strategy Officer for OutcomeMD, and a senior advisor with Fieldstone Equity Partners. He also serves on the board of directors for the Concussion Legacy Foundation and the National Association of Veterans’ Research and Education Foundations (NAVREF) Board. In 2019, Collier joined the Faculty of the Thayer Leader Development Group at West Point.

Collier is frequently featured as a keynote speaker and panelist at events and conferences around the world, including the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business, UCLA's Anderson School of Management, and many others.

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs In January 2015, Collier was appointed by President Obama to Senior Advisor to the Secretary at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. In this role, he spearheaded the department's strategy for public-private partnerships to better address and support the needs of Veterans. Collier launched the VA Center for Strategic Partnerships and directed hundreds of millions of dollars in partnership investments over at two-year period to support the needs of Veterans and their families. Notable partnerships include Amazon, IBM, GE, Philips, Johnson & Johnson, Prostate Cancer Foundation, Wounded Warrior Project, and Google.