Michelle Best is managing director, strategic operations for the Innovation and Impact team at the Carnegie Foundation. As managing director, Michelle oversees the Foundation’s strategy for cross functional operations to help turn vision into practice with measurable impact.

Michelle brings over 20 years of experience leading growth operations, partnership development, and strategic program management for purpose-driven organizations. Prior to joining the Foundation, Michelle built and led global teams at Meta, where she served as senior director of Social Impact Partnerships and the Global Nonprofit Category. As senior director, she developed frameworks to strengthen nonprofit operational capacity and supported social good programs at scale. She also served as director of adoption and efficacy at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative’s Education Initiative. Michelle’s previous experience includes leadership roles at Amazon Education and the Salesforce Foundation, as well as advising edtech startups on organizational strategy and growth. She began her career managing poverty alleviation programs at a private foundation, where she scaled microfinance innovations and appropriate technology solutions in India. This early work shaped her passion for aligning solutions with local community needs and realities.

Michelle holds a bachelor’s from the University of California, Los Angeles, in political science and international relations.