Michelle Shafer

As a Senior Relationship Manager, Michelle works to increase equity in educational opportunities by utilizing a collaborative, cross-sector approach. She works alongside the community to align resources and systems around students and families to improve academic achievement.

Michelle brings more than twenty years of community impact experience, as a funder and as a non-profit and public health leader.  Prior to ESL, she was the northeast regional director for maternal and child health, as well as the national director for strategic partnerships at March of Dimes where she was focused on outcomes-based programming, grant making, stakeholder convening, and change management.  She began her career as a middle school health teacher for Baltimore City Public Schools.

She earned a bachelor’s in Health Science and Health Education from the State University of New York at Brockport, a master’s in Public Health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Executive Leadership certification in Creating and Leading High Performing Teams from the Wharton School.

Away from the office, Michelle enjoys exploring Rochester’s many parks, trails, and orchards with her family.