MIKE DE LA ROCHA

REDEFINES HEALING AND MASCULINITY

- ANNE L. SCHOLL

Mike de la Rocha might be speaking at a prestigious book festival one day, and the next he may be cofacilitating a healing circle with men who lost their homes during the Los Angeles fires.

“Everything I do is rooted in love,” he says.

In every facet of his career—and his life—de la Rocha seeks authentic connection. That's true in his role as CEO of Revolve Impact, the creative agency he cofounded in 2014, and when he’s performing on stages like those at TEDx and SXSW; sharing the spotlight with artists like Jon Batiste and Ben Harper; or drawing inspiration from changemakers he’s worked with over the years, including performer John Legend, activist Dolores Huerta, and the late singer Harry Belafonte.

In June 2025, de la Rocha added another title to his already impressive résumé: published author. His memoir, Sacred Lessons: Teaching My Father How to Love, explores the struggle men face in connecting with themselves and others and gives them tools to grow personally and to build meaningful and authentic relationships.

His efforts haven't gone unrecognized. De la Rocha is on GOOD Magazine's list of the top 100 people reshaping the world. He's received the AFL-CIO’s Justice, Peace, and Freedom Award and the Shorty Social Good Award for Social Justice, and he was lauded as a trailblazing innovator by Stanford Social Innovation Review.

BREAKING THE SILENCE

Sacred Lessons began as a tribute to his father, written in his father’s voice, but publishers wanted more of de la Rocha. “I was hiding behind my father’s voice,” he says. “I was afraid to do the deep grief work. I didn’t want to dig into my own pain.”