As Co-President of Games for Change USA, Michelle leads on institutional relationship and partnership efforts, along with fundraising, business affairs, financial management, and communications strategy. Michelle and her Co-President Asi Burak, work on the strategic vision of the organization and oversee all programmatic initiatives.
Michelle began consulting with Games for Change earlier this year working to strengthen the organization’s relationship with its international partners. Prior to joining the staff, Michelle served for 12 years as the Executive Director of the Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP), the oldest and largest organization of independent filmmakers in the US. During her tenure she raised more than $15 million, oversaw a staff of 15, tripled the membership to 10,000, and established programs to annually support and mentor 300 projects in development. Her track record includes executive producing high quality, celebrity-attended events for broadcast and online, including IFP’s Gotham Independent Film Awards. She was also responsible for a diversity of new strategic partnerships including those with the United Nations Department of Public Information, The New York Times and the Sundance Institute.
Michelle has served as a juror on the documentary competition at the Sundance Film Festival, been awarded the “Made in New York” career tribute by Mayor Bloomberg and appeared on both Variety’s Annual “Indie Impact List: 50 Who Made a Difference” and The Hollywood Reporter’s Women in Entertainment “Power 100” List.
