
Experience
Having a passion for developing the capacity of nonprofit leaders and their organizations, Michelle has spent the last 20 years as both an academic and practitioner in the nonprofit sector. She has served the sector in various leadership capacities, including as an AmeriCorps member, donor, program director, board member, consultant, and ten years as an executive director for a national nonprofit organization. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Leadership Studies with a focus on Nonprofit and Philanthropic Leadership and her research examines how developmental experiences on-the-job impact leadership development. While completing her doctoral coursework, she served as a Doctoral Research Assistant at The Nonprofit Institute at the University of San Diego, where she provided client-focused research and evaluation services for nonprofits in the San Diego and Orange County regions. She is also a certified leadership coach and maintains a small coaching practice working specifically with nonprofit women leaders. She has presented her own research at both academic conferences and practitioner events, and has presented multiple workshops on how Investing in People is a Win-Win for Nonprofit Leaders and their Organizations.
Current Role
Michelle provides evaluation services to help measure the impact of CCL’s work on leaders and their businesses. Specifically, she supports custom evaluation client work, provides enterprise-wide survey design and distribution support, and analyzes existing evaluation datasets to inform program design and uncover insights about impact.
Educational Background
Ph.D. (expected 2020) in Leadership Studies, Nonprofit and Philanthropic Leadership from the University of San Diego
M.A. in Nonprofit Leadership and Management from the University of San Diego
B.S. from Cornell University
Professional Affiliations
American Evaluation Association, Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA), Association of Certified Nonprofit Professionals, Fieldstone Leadership Network, Group Relations International.
Curriculum Vitae
Select External Publications
- The Nonprofit Sabbatical as a Catalyst for Capacity Building: An Evaluation of the Fieldstone Leadership Network’s Clare Rose Sabbatical Program
- Fieldstone Leadership Network’s Learning Group Effect: Leadership Development as Capacity Building

Contact Information
Areas of Expertise
Experience-Driven Development, Evaluation, Nonprofit, Evaluation, Program Design, Nonprofit Leadership and Management
Speaking Engagements
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