I oversee the Center's strategy in leadership development programming and strategic partnerships.Center Leadership- Led strategic planning for programming and partnerships. Provided significant input for strategy on bold ideas and team leadership. Included SWOT analysis, YoY data, and forecasting three-year goals and key results.- Managed/coached a team of six full-time/temp staff- Created a robust departmental onboarding checklist; used successfully with 5 new hires in 2023.- Advocated for the hire of an additional FTE to support strategic partnerships and programs.- Served as a member of the leadership team; alternate to managing director during periods of absence.Programming Strategy- Significantly enhanced org efficiency by reducing silos. Included leading a task force for "program playbooks;" creation of new data processes; holding regular meetings to share best practices; and developing a comprehensive operations workbook.- Oversaw the creation of analytic tools to evaluate the effectiveness of leadership development programs, including pre/post scores.- Facilitated leadership programs; including delivering existing content and creating new presentations.- Served as project lead and change agent for an updated version of the Michigan Model of Leadership.- Supported employees project leads in numerous, record-breaking successes across programs.Strategic Partnerships- Continually increased donations. As of 4/24, we have received more cash donations than the previous fiscal year.- Garnered a new corporate sponsorship with McKinsey, in collaboration with Ross Advancement.- Developed sophisticated new sponsorship proposal for the Leadership Crisis Challenge- Significantly enhanced org efficiency by documenting processes, creating new tools, and organizing internal operations.- Contributed to thought leadership on the solicitation of the next principal gift.- Cultivated relationships with faculty and students.

After demonstrated success in creating new partnerships for the Center via the Sanger Advisory Board, numerous corporate and private supporters, and through our faculty champions, I was promoted to Student Affairs Program Manager, Strategic Partnerships. This role also coincided with the year I received my Master's degree in Higher Education from the U-M Marsal School of Education.I spent approximately 18 months in this role and I had significant impact, including:- Overseeing a 263% increase in donations and pledges to the Center over the previous year as a result of our Advisory Board and increased corporate sponsorships- Recruiting nearly 10 of 20 members to the Sanger Advisory Board and hosting our first meeting- Launching the Leadership Dialogues Speaker Series, which pairs industry leaders and practice with top thought leaders and professors- Authoring the Center's first donor relations strategy and numerous best practice guides and processes to ensure the success of the Center's fundraising, alumni relations, and faculty relation efforts- Graduating our inaugural (2022) and subsequent (2023) class of Michigan Ross Leader Endorsement recipients, which included expanding the program to all Michigan Ross MBA students- Joining the leadership team for the Center, which included managing one full-time employee and one temporary employee and taking on projects such as helping the team identify how we live our culture in daily work activities- Serving as Center's budget administrator while the managing director was on parental leave- Facilitating numerous leadership development sessions for a wide audience of college students

As the first marketing manager for the Center just after it was established, I played a crucial role in building what today is a highly recognizable brand in the leadership development field. Together with a dynamic team, I created all of the foundational communication tools, systems, and processes the Center is using to-date (2024) for marketing and communications. I also led significant change to track and analyze data and demonstrate our tremendous impact every year in our annual report.Toward the end of my tenure, my role expanded to include project management, including overseeing the creation of a new leadership framework, the Sanger Leadership Journey; overseeing over $60,000 in sponsorships; and the creation of one of our now most popular programs, the Michigan Ross Leader Endorsement.Additional highlights:• Managed sponsor relationships with Fortune 500 corporations• Led a cross-campus team in creating a first-of-its-kind metrics dashboard that enables the Center to track DEI and skill metrics across programs as well as map student participation to outcomes• Researched, designed, and facilitated leadership development sessions to graduate students, including topics such as: purpose, culture, the Sanger Leadership Journey, and the Michigan Model of Leadership• Created Center’s first marketing strategic plan and implemented all marketing, public relations, and graphic design for 70+ programs annually; regularly updated marketing strategy based on data• Uncovered insights by creating and managing bi-annual brand market research study• Managed the launch of sanger.umich.edu, a new website and domain, and four social media accounts; followers on social media increased by 1760% and website views increased by 85% since hire• Coordinated team devbelopment, including organizing 360 feedback sessions• Supervised three employees with stellar feedback for management style• Established the Center’s first student input group

After freelancing for over 13 years, I opened Michelle Austin Design to serve small businesses, the education sector, and event planners.

• Direct marketing activity and business operations in fast-paced department of 18+ employees • Supervise department's marketing and operations team: one marketing coordinator, one operations specialist, and one office assistant (managed directly by operations specialist) • Manage the creation, building, and implementation of a new department-wide project management system and software • Design and write marketing collateral (print, web, mobile, etc.) for highly visible university events, such as Mcity Grand Opening, President's Advisory Group, Homecoming, etc. • Educate development community on best practices for event evaluation and analytics through presentations, seminars, and documentation • Build and strengthen relationships within the Office of Development and across campus with communications partners, development staff, and U-M departments • Continuously improve department's CRM and event management software (DART) by serving as liaison between users and ITS

• Manage and plan all external communication for 100+ U-M events, including: direct mail, email, websites, social media, printed programs, hand outs, promotional items, and scripts• Ensure multiple departments, vendors, and employees work collaboratively to produce on-time deliverables to donors, alumni, students, and internal clients• Create original, brand-appropriate graphic design components such as postcards, emails, signs, etc.• Identify and implement data collection and analysis methods to continually evaluate and improve events• Recruit, hire, train, and supervise two employees to assist with marketing tasks• Spearheaded and oversaw the redesign of the U-M Commencement website (commencement.umich.edu) in 2014, resulting in 42% more page views than the previous design in 2013• Utilized graphic design and analytic skills to create a 40+ page report on the 2013 Victors for Michigan Campaign Kickoff event, resulting in a CASE Gold Award• Designed and implemented use of a quantitative ROI report to show donor/alumni engagement with U-M post-event – report is currently in use by 3+ other units• Improved donor/alumni satisfaction with event aspects by analyzing survey data and making recommendations to colleagues, which translated to higher satisfaction in the next year

• Enhanced U-M brand identity by redesigning or rewriting numerous invitations, websites, emails, signs, etc. to better align with new branding and current event design trends• Coordinated external communication for multiple U-M events simultaneously, ensuring all timelines, budgets, departments, and vendors met or exceeded project needs• Recommended best practices for event communication to multiple departments, resulting in better consistency across the Office of University Development• Managed social media for 3+ Facebook pages, resulting in a 31% increase in likes for Spring Commencement in a one-year period• Implemented first analytics plan for department, including surveys, improved data collection, and research into ROI reporting, all of which were presented and approved by senior leadership

• Managed simultaneous research projects with high-level marketing strategy recommendations for Fortune 500 clients• Recommended analysis tactics, wrote surveys and research questions, and analyzed results• Created highly visual presentations to show data in an easily understood manner• Assisted in account management and client services for one of the company’s top clients• Moderated several focus groups and completed moderator training course• Mentored and directed junior level staff

• Managed simultaneous research projects with high-level marketing strategy recommendations for Fortune 500 clients• Recommended analysis tactics, wrote surveys and research questions, and analyzed results• Created highly visual presentations to show data in an easily understood manner• Assisted in account management and client services for one of the company’s top clients• Moderated several focus groups and completed moderator training course• Mentored and directed junior level staff

• Generated visual constructs to aid in the understanding of complex research findings• Coordinated with travel and research vendors and outside consultants• Ensured accuracy of all data, statistics, and written material sent to clients

• Assisted in creation of marketing plan for Crain’s Detroit Business “Health Care Extra” newsletter• Generated internal communication for 10,000+ employees and press releases for external audiences• Redesigned sections of Oakwood.org using HTML and Dreamweaver• Designed marketing collateral for events

• Managed journal production, including editing, design, pre-press, vendor communication, distribution, and management of staff • Planned, promoted, and executed several events• Created budget efficiencies and saved $1,000+ through vendor negotiation

• Assisted with qualitative and quantitative research projects by entering data, proofreading, and analyzing qualitative data• Helped moderate and organize online consumer research community