After practicing law in Dallas and teaching at three law schools, Michelle found her passion in nonprofit work in the early 1990s. Her numerous roles thereafter included fundraiser for an HBCU (Paul Quinn College), administrator of a corporate foundation (Belo Foundation), program officer and associate director of a community foundation (The Dallas Foundation), and president of a private foundation (Carl B. & Florence E. King Foundation).
She joined the King Foundation in February 2005, amidst a lengthy legal battle with the prior board and executive leadership. She described the Foundation as a “40-year-old startup” at her arrival. With the unflagging support of a new board of directors, she instituted grant policies and systems, administrative and governance policies, and other actions necessary to put the Foundation back on solid footing and restore its reputation.
While president, Michelle was responsible for overseeing the Foundation’s $3.3 million annual program of grants, initiatives, and direct charitable activities; and all administrative functions including investments and tax compliance. The Foundation awarded grants in 32 Arkansas counties and 43 Texas counties in aging, arts, children, economically disadvantaged, education, and nonprofit capacity.
She retired from the Foundation in January 2025. During her tenure, the assets of the Foundation increased from $37 million to $118 million, enabling the Foundation to award more than $50 million in grants over her time in office. With regional partners, she also started a rural philanthropy conference in West Texas that has been offered biennially since 2011. A similar effort began in Arkansas in 2024.
Michelle is currently co-trustee of the Annie R. Stevens Trust, alongside Bank of America/U.S. Trust. She is a past president of Philanthropy Southwest (a regional grantmakers’ association), past president of the Burkitt Foundation (a supporting organization of the El Paso Community Foundation), former board secretary of Texas Rural Funders (a statewide funding collaborative dedicated to rural Texas), and former steering committee member of Arkansas Impact Philanthropy and Delta Funders Forum.
Michelle holds a B.A. summa cum laude from Texas Tech University, and a J.D. with high honors from The University of Texas School of Law, where she was Associate Editor of the Texas Law Review and a member of Order of the Coif. She has published two articles specifically relating to her work at the King Foundation: “Scandal Is a Good Teacher” (Trusts & Estates magazine, 2006) and “It’s 10. P.M. Do You Know Where Your Endowment Is?” (Philanthropy magazine, 2010). She is a frequent speaker to nonprofit and legal audiences.