I have been supporting government department and non-profit organizations working to build services that work for communities, creating anti-racism hiring practices, developing collaborative culture, and supporting individual leadership. Some recent project highlights include:
Liberty Community Church is co-creating community-driven solutions for the healing of trauma as a counterbalance to the negative forces the North Minneapolis community faces. There efforts with youth and families are intentionally connected together to create and engage North Minneapolis youth and families into our “HomePlace” ethos, one where love and hope can prevail in the face of trauma and despair. Within their programs, we promote healing and provide practical support through barriers that come with generational poverty and systemic racism. I am supporting development of organizational systems and sustainability as they launch a new “Homeplace” effort to support birthing parents as part of a birth justice movement.
Michelle has a gift. She is able to chart a course for the future while standing solidly in the present. This unique capacity allows her to be transformative, an agent for change and build systems that are sustainable and life giving to organizations and individuals.
Rev. Dr. Alika P. Galloway,
Liberty Community Church, CEO
From 2021 through 2024, I worked with Alia to lead a community-centered child welfare transformation project in Rock County, Wisconsin. The goal is to reduce racial disparities in family separation by bringing forth a community response rooted in the Black community in Beloit, WI. By centering a design process on the voice of lived experts, the Rock Equity Project is helping to create supports that are designed by and for the community. And the CPS system is creating practices designed to support families within the context of their community instead of separation. Read More
Michelle’s unique skillset has been instrumental in helping us authentically center the voices of the community in our child welfare systems change efforts. She is able to join with others to translate a vision for empowered community voice into actionable steps toward meaningful change.
Kate Luster,
Rock County Human Services Director
I worked for a year with Dakota County Social Services through a partnership with the Humphrey School to support their effort to move from talk to action with racial equity hiring and organizational culture. We used a human centered design approach to identify new practices together to increase diverse hiring and create a place where diverse groups feel they can bring their whole self to work.
Michelle has an innate ability to step into societal and organization issues and gather critical information. Her assessment allows her to quickly and accurately interpret the current space with ease to brainstorm next steps. She helps transform ideas into creative and effective solutions.
Calla Oftedahl, Dakota County Social Services,
Administrative Manager
