Michelle brings over 20 years of experience in music, educational leadership, fundraising, non-profit management, and fiscal management to her role as Executive Director. A Grammy®-nominated music educator and passionate nonprofit leader, she leverages a broad range of business consulting and nonprofit management skills in her role. As a former accountant with EY, she worked on audit and consulting teams for fortune 500 companies. In her role as the Director of Institutional Fundraising and Development Services at The Curtis Institute of Music, she was instrumental in completing their largest ever capital campaign, raising over $40 million. Michelle was a passionate music educator and department leader for the School District of Philadelphia for 15 years where she led a team of arts educators at a magnet performing arts high school and trained new music educators for the district yearly. Students in her programs performed alongside musical greats including Kenny Loggins, Eric Church, Metallica, and Smokey Robinson.
Michelle holds master’s degrees in educational leadership from the University of Pennsylvania and in vocal performance from Florida State University. She holds bachelor’s degrees in Accounting, Music, and Theater from Lehigh University. Michelle is also a classical singer and has performed locally with Opera Philadelphia, Lehigh Opera, and as a member of the Voices of The Philly Pops. While not working in the Philadelphia music sphere, Michelle is a proud mom to twins and lives in New Jersey with her husband, Frederick.