Michael B. Rover is President and CEO of the H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation. Rover has served on the Foundation’s Board since 2005 and began providing legal counsel for its business and real estate interests in 2012 before joining the Foundation full-time in 2020.

Rover is instrumental in the Foundation’s strategic planning as it leverages assets for long-term gains to benefit charitable endeavors. He is a highly skilled negotiator who has navigated hundreds of acquisitions, dispositions, and leases. Rover regularly handles complex, multi-million dollar real estate transactions from the listing, letter of intent, and purchase agreement phase, to financing and debt assumption, to due diligence, pre-closing matters, and closing.

Prior to joining the Foundation’s Executive Team, Rover was a principal of the law firm Rover Armstrong, which he founded in 1997, primarily practicing real estate and business law. During Rover’s 25 years in private practice, he honed business-related services including the formation and governance of corporations as well as stock transactions and asset sales.

Rover received his Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of San Diego and earned his Juris Doctor from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. In addition, Rover’s California licenses as a general contractor and real estate broker provide a keen eye for high-return investments and risk management.

Rover is the past president of the Desert Bar Association and is actively involved in numerous charitable activities that positively impact the community. It is especially meaningful to Rover that the Berger Foundation contributes about 80 percent of its grants to the community he grew up in and where he raised his own children. Born and raised in Palm Desert, Rover graduated from Indio High School. Today, he and his wife DoeDee reside in Palm Desert and have four grown children.