Michelle was born and raised on the south side of Chicago not far from White Sox stadium. She enrolled at Southern Illinois University (SIU) in Carbondale where she met her husband Gary, and they raised their two children. Michelle and Gary bought their home in 2017 on Coach House Lane. They had been coming down this way for years to visit his mom, Patty, one of the original VCC owners. In fact, Patty wanted the spot hat the sales trailer occupied near the 18th hole, and she is still there. In Michelle’s free time she golfs, trains at the gym, and chairs one of the Country Creek book clubs. She and Gary also participate in Wii bowling.
Her undergraduate degree is in Journalism with an Advertising specialization. After graduation she was “lucky enough” to get a couple of jobs and worked at SIU for a total of 34 years in two different capacities. She answered an ad for a job to be an intern, got it, and then the person she was working for left. She moved into the position of Facility Management and Live Entertainment Marketing. After 17 years and many late nights, she decided she wanted a change. She got her Master’s Degree in Education and Computer Based Training. She worked hard to earn a position in Alumni Relations. As the Director of Member Services, she dealt with membership issues, as well as writing some articles for the Alumni magazine. After her predecessor retired, she became the Executive Director of the Alumni Association. In this capacity she traveled all over the USA meeting with some of the 250,000 living SIU alumni. In southwest Florida alone, there are over 4,000 Salukis. At the alumni association she worked with their board for over 11 years. She also served on another board for five years, CASE (The Council for the Advancement and Support of Education.)
This extensive experience makes her transition to fill in the recently vacated position on VCC’s board seamless. She also acts as the board’s liaison for the Communications Committee. Clearly Michelle is well qualified for her new roles supporting our community!
