Michelle Morales

Michelle Morales is the President of the Woods Fund Chicago. She is a first-generation US born Puerto Rican. Prior Woods Fund, she led the Illinois chapter of the Mikva Challenge, an organization that leads the field of civics by developing young people to become civically engaged and creating space for their civic participation and leadership. Michelle’s background has been in the field of alternative education, focusing on and advocating for educational justice, first as a teacher at an alternative high school in Chicago’s Humboldt Park community and then as Associate Director at the Alternative Schools Network. In addition, she was an active community organizer for 16 years in Chicago’s Puerto Rican community. Michelle received a BA from DePaul University, a Master's in Special Education from UIC and a Master's in Educational Leadership from Northeastern Illinois University. She is a fellow of Leadership Greater Chicago and had the honor of participating in the inaugural cohort of Cultivate - a women of color leadership program developed by Woods Fund, Crossroads Fund, Chicago Community Trust and the Chicago Foundation for Women.

Michelle is honored to lead Woods Fund Chicago, one of six foundations in the city of Chicago to explicitly fund grassroots community organizing and public policy advocacy.