Michelle Ford

Principal

Chicago, IL

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Michelle L. Ford has more than 20 years of executive leadership, change management and fund development experience across several industries, including corporate, non-profit, healthcare and foundations.

Prior to joining HMA, she served as the director of Health and Well-Being with the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities (Alliance) and the Council on Accreditation. She worked to position the organization’s strategic action network of community-based organizations as a central resource and authority for achieving health equity by addressing the social determinants of health, building organizational capacity to contract with the health industry, and developing best practices, necessary systems, and respective policy change.

Serving in a series of executive positions with non-profit organizations, Michelle is the former executive director of the United Neighborhood Centers of Milwaukee, where she managed organizational operations and financial oversight whiles working to advance the organization’s mission, culture, goals, and outcomes while serving as spokesperson and community representative.

Michelle served as director of regional corporate relations, senior director of community engagement, and director of community partnerships for the American Cancer Society in the Midwest division. Additionally, she managed community partnerships and fund development for Wisconsin’s largest hospital system, Aurora Healthcare, and led its annual giving campaign.

She was recently awarded an honorary doctorate in humanities from the Medical College of Wisconsin. She earned a Master of Business Administration from Cardinal Stritch University, where she served as an adjunct instructor in the College of Business and Management, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Alverno College.

Michelle serves as a national thought leader working on several advisory boards, including the Morehouse School of Medicine’s National Resiliency Network, Camden Coalition’s National Center for Complex Health and Social Needs, Field Coordinating Committee, Social Interventions Research Evaluation Network (SIREN), Root Cause Coalition and the Expert Advisory Group for Raising the Bar through the National Partnership for Women and Families.

She is an active servant leader in the greater Milwaukee area and dedicates her time and talents to several local and national organizations including the Alpha Kappa Alpha, Inc., African American Women’s Fund, Cardinal Stritch University’s School of Nursing, and the Board of America’s Black Holocaust Museum. Outside of work, she enjoys traveling and spending time with her children and grandchildren.