Michael Kington
Director of Customer Success | Northwoods
“At Northwoods, we succeed when our customers succeed.”
Michael Kington came to Northwoods the way a lot of good things happen: through close-up experience with something that was working.
He spent eight years delivering managed services for the State of Ohio. There, he saw firsthand what it looked like when technology made a real difference for health and human services agencies. He wanted to be on the side building it.
What made him say yes to Northwoods was a convergence he doesn’t take for granted. Strong values. A product that makes a real difference for workers. A fast-paced environment that encourages innovation.
A lot of companies offer one of those. He found all three at Northwoods.
The Path to Northwoods
As Director of Customer Success, Michael leads a team accountable for the long-term success of every agency Northwoods partners with. That means deep, consultative relationships.
It’s why he works to understand what each agency needs. He tracks progress toward their goals and makes sure they get full value from every solution.
For Michael, success is an ongoing standard built through partnership and shared accountability. Every agency defines “success” a little differently. The work is finding it together and holding to it.
The Problems Worth Solving
Michael keeps three main priorities in mind:
- Documentation overhead and process weight that accumulates over time, slowly crowding out the work that matters most to families
- Siloed departments and information gaps that prevent agencies from catching problems early enough to act
- Workers without the proactive tools they need to find what they need quickly and reduce errors
The Northwoods Difference: Social Work Expertise at the Core
Northwoods maintains a workforce that includes many active and formally licensed social workers. Michael calls it a design point. The people who shape our solutions know this job inside and out.
That means the team solves for what will actually move the needle. We help agencies cut through paperwork and staffing strain so teams can spend more time serving people, not chasing processes.
Michael’s vision for the next three to five years builds on that foundation. AI already helps workers find information quickly. He wants to take that further: products that help workers proactively, surfacing what they need before they have to look for it.
The goal is to drastically lower error rates and help workers stay ahead rather than have to catch up.
Stewardship in Practice
Michael lives the value of stewardship every day. The agencies Northwoods serves entrust us to help manage caseloads with real consequences for real communities. He takes that responsibility seriously.
Every customer should be set up for success and equipped to use every tool available to them.
His team includes several licensed social workers. He works to create a space where their expertise shapes how Northwoods supports customers. Their perspectives directly influence where the team goes next. He provides the structure, while they make the day-to-day impact.
In Michael's Words
Beyond the Work
Michael has been a Columbus Blue Jackets fan since 2001. It’s a commitment that says something about loyalty.
He was a hockey goalie growing up, which also says something about how he thinks about holding things together under pressure.