Michelle continues to lead the organization she established in 1984 known as the Great Lakes Women’s Business Council. GLWBC has 1,400 certified women-owned businesses in Michigan and Indiana, 100 corporate members, provides 650 women business owners with training and counseling annually, and has provided small business loans totaling more than $ 10 million. Great Lakes WBC is among the top economic development organizations in Michigan.
A founding board member of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), Michelle played a critical role in persuading corporations that doing business with women-owned businesses was prudent and profitable. Her primary target was getting the automotive sector to set spend goals with women-owned businesses.
As an advocate for small business enterprises at home and abroad, Michelle’s life work is to remove barriers, provide resources and foster accelerated small business growth across the United States and around the world. From hosting President Bill Clinton and Nobel Peace Prize Winner Dr. Muhammad Yunus to participating in a global microcredit summit in Washington, D.C., and joining a delegation to train entrepreneurs in Ghana, West Africa, Michelle has a long legacy of championing women, minority, and small businesses.
Although modest about her accomplishments and successful advocacy, Michelle’s work has not gone unnoticed. Michelle has provided expert testimony to both the U.S. Senate and House small business committees on behalf of women business owners. In addition to numerous awards and recognitions that she has received throughout her notable career, Michelle was inducted into the Women’s Business Enterprise Hall of Fame by the American Institute for Diversity and Commerce in 2014.
