Her Story
About Michele
My career path has been shaped by my commitment to education, ministry, and service. I graduated from Stanford University with a degree in chemical engineering and worked in various roles including as a microbiologist at Stanford Research Institute and as a chemical engineering intern at Internet Corporation. After getting married and starting our family, my husband and I saw the need to educate our own children differently from the usual public school system. I began homeschooling in 1987, and after raising 11 children who have all gone on to successful careers as attorneys, pilots, behavioral health specialists, investment bankers, and educators, we established Small Beginnings Christian Academy in 2018 to share what we learned with our community. My daughter later took over and made the school a virtual academy during the pandemic. As a pastor's wife, I serve as a ministry leader and financial administrator for our church and district of churches. I'm passionate about community service, helping operate our soup kitchen, and doing public speaking to mentor women on navigating their homes, marriages, and careers. My focus is on administrative leadership across finance, education, science, technology, and engineering. Now as an empty nester, I'm seeking new opportunities with our county while continuing my ministry and community work.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Michele
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to my God-given gifts and my determination to persevere in the midst of obstacles. I've always been willing to forge pathways, not having to have a pattern before me, but to make the pattern if I think it'll be beneficial. My attention to detail and compassion have been key drivers throughout my journey. Stanford gave me not only an outstanding and diverse education that was well-rounded in the arts and sciences, but also the creative liberties to pave my own path instead of just falling into the managed trails that are already out there. This allowed my husband and me to not just stay in a box, but to walk outside of the box and examine what's around us, to identify needs and ways that we can utilize our gifts to help improve people and society. We translated that approach to our children and continue to do that in ministry.
02What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
In our society, there are a lot of challenges in terms of substance abuse, what's communicated to people, and social injustice. What's fed to children in terms of their identity and their self-esteem really affects them and how they can utilize their gifts in terms of receiving education and the direction that they take. There's a lot of injustice that gives people hopelessness - they don't make efforts to improve their situation because they don't see that they can affect change or anything.
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