Biography

Mike Richards

Editor-in-Chief, The Forge

Mr

Michael Richards has worked across learning technologies and digital education for over three decades, bringing a mix of practical experience and long-term project delivery. He began his career in 1988 at Advance Bank as an Assistant Producer, contributing to more than 130 training video productions and gaining hands-on skills in writing, directing, editing, and camera work.

In 1994, he joined The Learning Group as its first full-time Senior Developer, Instructional Designer, and Graphic Artist. He supported clients including Thomson Marconi Sonar and Zurich Insurance, and played a key role in the company’s early growth.

From 1999, Mike worked at Catalyst Interactive as a Senior Developer and Team Leader, where he led technical teams, developed a distributed database system, and helped deliver projects for clients such as ANZ and the Department of Defence. His team’s work earned the 2001 ACT Chief Minister’s Award for OHS Training.

Between 2002 and 2006, he ran eLearning Media, providing contract instructional design and training development for clients including the Department of Immigration and Ricoh Australasia.

He returned to Catalyst Interactive (later KBR Wyle) in 2006 as a Project Manager and Instructional Designer, contributing to training and compliance projects for major clients including Chevron.

In 2011, Mike joined the Department of Defence as a Senior Digital Learning Producer, where he developed eLearning packages and co-produced the Into the Mind of a Fraudster podcast series, recognised with a Defence Australia Day Group Commendation.

He later served as System Administrator and Change Manager with Defence Learning Technologies, helping sustain learning systems through the COVID-19 pandemic and acting as Technical Director for the CDF Non-Commissioned Officer Conference, which was delivered entirely online.

In 2022, Mike joined The Forge, the public-facing platform for Joint Professional Military Education, as Production Manager. He became Acting Deputy Director later that year, and in 2024 was appointed Deputy Director within the Professional Mastery Directorate and Editor-in-Chief of The Forge.