Michelle is a dynamic, multi-lingual professional with over a decade of non-profit development and communications experience. Prior to joining the Wallace Center, she was Development Director for a New Orleans-based non-profit organization that provides the city’s youth pathways to success through culinary and hospitality-based training.

Michelle spent a decade studying and working within the U.S., France and Egypt. She worked as a consultant for a social purpose corporation working with global health foundations and wrote articles focusing on the intersection between the pharmaceutical industry and global health. While working as a program officer at a journalism non-profit organization in Washington, D.C., she planned fellowships and conferences around the globe.

A South Louisiana native, Michelle recognizes the importance of organizational storytelling and community building and serves on the executive council for New Orleans Public Radio. Michelle earned an MA in Middle East and Islamic Studies with Language, and a BA in Mass Communications.