Michelle McKenzie is an international development professional with global experience in Africa, Brazil, and the Caribbean. Michelle has varied interests and experience in project/program design and management, curriculum development and training, capacity building, strategy development, innovation and learning, impact communication, agribusiness, food security, and supporting early stage entrepreneurs.
Michelle has held several positions in Programs and in Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning at the US African Development Foundation (USADF), an independent U.S. government agency devoted to grassroots development in Africa. In her 8-year tenure at USADF, Michelle managed projects in several countries (DRC, Mali, Niger, Liberia, Senegal, Mauritania, Nigeria, Guinea and Burkina Faso) that promote entrepreneurship development for smallholder farmers, particularly women as a pathway to prosperity. Michelle leads USADF participation in the USG interagency Global Food Security Strategy (Feed the Future) coordination, which aims to reduce global hunger and its effects, improve food security, and promote agriculture-led growth.
Michelle served in the US Peace Corps in Niger (2007-2009) as a Community and Youth Education Advisor to the Ministry of Education at the Direction for Secondary Schools in Zinder and as a Peace Corps Response Volunteer in Mozambique (2010-2011), where she worked as a Community and Gender Integration Coordinator for a USAID-funded Agribusiness promotion project.
Michelle has a Master’s Degree in International Development with a concentration in Community Development from the School of International Service at American University and a Bachelor’s Degree in History and International Relations from Hunter College, City University of New York. She is a Ronald McNair Scholar and a David L. Boren Fellow.