PRIDE | COVER PROFILE
by Logan Lynn | photography by Horace Long
Michkael BAKER
LOCAL VISIONARY TALKS ABOUT
ALGORITHMS, CURRENCY, AND
WHAT MAKES HIM TICK. TICK. TICK.
Pacific Northwest native Michkael Baker is a self-described visionary. With a his-
tory in the old school Portland music scene, a nutritional education center up
and running, a global media company under construction, and a new economic
paradigm of his own creation on the horizon, he seems braced to take flight.
Born in Seattle, Baker grew up in Vancouver, Washington and has lived in the
area ever since. He is a longtime singer and performer. In the 80’s and 90’s he
performed with Body & Soul, Linda Hornbuckle, Nu Shoes, Dan Reed, and other
local musicians who were well-known at the time and were influential in creating
the now thriving Portland music scene.
By the late 90’s Michkael had become disillusioned with the music industry and
decided to exit the rat race, shifting his focus toward internet-based business
concepts instead. After yet another major life change in 2007 (which he refers to
as “the integration”), his company Blue Voice Enterprises was born. The endeav-
or he’s currently best known for is The Open Kitchen, a community center which
brings young entrepreneurs, chefs, and farmers together in an effort to break the
barriers between food production, preparation, and consumption.
Blue Voice Enterprises is currently shifting focus to two new endeavors, the
Creative Action Center Of Online Open source Networks (CACOON) and
Showcase Networks, an online television network. CACOON is a social media
network created to bring together social entrepreneurs, innovators, and creative
types to solve social problems and issues by connecting them to resources, fi-
nances, ideas, and products.
Even in a recession, Michkael believes the algorithm he has invented will hold up
and draw investors to the project.
“The system I’ve created, Use Value-Based Economics, has a built-in alternative
currency called Community Credits. It’s a platform to build a new economic sys-
tem and shows you that money is not the only exchangeable currency. It places
value on people instead.”
Continues on pg. 31
28
JustOut.com
June 2012