Michelle Thevenin

Michelle first came to Cornell in the late 1980s as a first-generation college student and Cornell Tradition Fellow. After graduating, she chose to remain in Ithaca, managing day-to-day operations at what was then the Management Library while volunteering with United Way of Tompkins County, the GreenStar Council, and as an ESL tutor. In 2001, she earned her MBA/MILR degree and moved to rural Minnesota to develop and manage a leadership development program at the Schwan Food Company.

Over the past 20-plus years, Michelle has built a career in nonprofit leadership and fundraising across animal welfare, healthcare, and higher education. She began her fundraising journey leading Cornell’s New England team back when the university maintained an AAD office in Boston. Since then, her work has taken her to organizations in Savannah, Georgia; southern New Hampshire; Morristown, New Jersey; and Washington, DC. Most recently, she served as interim Deputy Director at Family & Children’s Service of Ithaca, the nonprofit mental health clinic on State Street in downtown Ithaca. In that role, she oversaw finance, HR, facilities, and IT during a leadership transition and organizational restructuring, while also serving as director of development.

Deeply committed to helping people and communities thrive, Michelle is enthusiastic about contributing to CRP’s mission. She is completing her seventh year on the board of the Center for Transformative Action (CTA), which supports 35-40 global projects, including the Christopherson Center. Her time with CTA has been especially meaningful given the impact of its initiatives and the people behind them. She was drawn to her role at CRP because of City and Regional Planning’s strong emphasis on social justice.

Outside of work, Michelle is an avid hiker who hits the trails daily with her two large shepherds, Willow and Phoenix. Some of their favorite spots include Bell Station, the Finger Lakes National Forest, and Flat Rock, where they enjoy wading in creeks and along the lake shore. She also shares her home with two cats, Ani and Willow — though they prefer to stay dry. Michelle is gradually renovating a downtown cottage she purchased from a retired Fine Arts Librarian in 2022.