Principal

Michelle A. Hopson is the Managing Member and Principal at Hopson Consultancy. Born in the Philippines, Michelle speaks multiple languages and agrees that words serve as tools to help solve problems. She enjoys diversity and maintaining a mix of people, roles, and activities that cultivate her values. She believes in the role theory and finds meaning in the various interactions from her family, work, and community.

With nonprofit management & private school administration experience, Michelle formed Hopson Consultancy, LLC to expand her community impact work partnering with nonprofits and women-owned businesses throughout New England. Michelle is proud to equip her clients with the actionable strategies, implementable methods, toolkits and blueprints necessary to bolster market value and achieve set goals for the benefit of the community.

Her book of business includes nonprofits, community-based organizations, public and private schools, regional and international universities, venture-backed start-ups, and minority women-owned businesses throughout New England. Her practice was awarded a Diversity in Business Champion designation under the direction of the Fairfield County Business Journal (CT) and the Westchester County Business Journal (NY) for Michelle’s socially conscious leadership, ongoing commitment to personal and professional development, and impact in business in CT and NY. Junior Achievement of New York, Inc. honored her as the Community Partner of the year in 2010.

Her works have been recognized in the media and various publications, including in the Fairfield County Business Journal, CPTV/PBS’ Unlearning: Breaking Bias. Building Community. documentary, CT News 12’s Our Lives by Gwen Edwards, and CT’s WPKN Radio 89.5 FM radio.

In 2020, Michelle joined Friends of Animals, an international animal advocacy organization preventing animal cruelty & exploitation, as the Director of Administration. She continues to serve as a remote Chief of Staff for vChief, a Mentor for the Fordham Mentoring Program, an Advisory Board Member for Fordham University’s Alumni Association (FUAA), a Parish Council Member for Assumption Church, an Advisory Board Member/Chief of Philanthropy & Engagement Officer for The Lucky Foundation, and a local-town government Elected Official.

Michelle earned a bachelor’s degree in Legal and Policy Studies from Fordham University, where she also received an Executive Education Certificate from Fordham’s Gabelli School of Business and Graduate School of Social Service’s Center for Nonprofit Leaders. In 2015, she was selected to attend a Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative symposium for Harvard Fellows, established, and emerging leaders of regional non-profits, cause-advancing organizations, public and government organizations. She is currently a Certified Member of The Chief of Staff Association, an international professional body for Chiefs of Staff in leading corporations, governments, the military, and diplomatic corps.

NONPROFITS

Michelle served as an Acting Managing Director/CEO & Business Consultant for a lower Fairfield County professional Broadway, Film, TV and Radio performing arts organization. Her 2015-2016 interim executive generalist role bridged talent and skill gaps from Board Committee to Executive Director functions, which yielded a 20%+ growth by the 3rd quarter.

Michelle was also a contracted Executive Director for EAGLE Student Mentoring, Inc. for the 2014-2015 term. Her provisional management role enhanced financial controls, developed higher-education partnerships, and established board-level mentorship programs for greater impact. She remains an EAGLE Board ally and continues to support the ELL/ESL community throughout the lower Fairfield County in Connecticut.

At the EAGLE trustee level, Michelle created a mentorship program for aspiring community leaders and future social entrepreneurs accessing board level professionals through internship and/or a capstone experiences. She successfully worked with a local youth ministry group in Stamford, Princeton University Social Entrepreneurship undergraduates, and developed future internship and capstone projects with a UCONN MBA student and a group of Sacred Heart University’s the Welch Master of Business Administration MBA students during her board term.

CAPACITY BUILDING ROOTS

Immediately after receiving her BA in Legal & Policy Studies at Fordham, Michelle worked in Williamsburg/Brooklyn, NY for an arts education & social justice nonprofit funded by the New York’s Department of Youth & Community Development. She designed, implemented, coordinated and launched a project-based learning program for school-age children, teens, and adults housed in a NYCHA community center. There, she also facilitated life-skill, social justice and financial literacy after-school classes, and Saturday flutophone classes in a politically charged Hasidic Jewish, Latino and African American community.

Her significant outcomes at El Puente included community-based linkages and partnerships that added programming breadth, depth, and inspiration to program participants.

In Connecticut, her collaborative community leadership and built-in network linkages provided program constituents with a reach and range of access, entry points for opportunity and growth.

With her nonprofit work in Brooklyn, NY as a 2009-2010 Program Coordinator to her grassroots 2014-2015 Board Officer role, Michelle has come up through the nonprofit ranks. Michelle has served as a Board Secretary, chaired a Governance Committee and a Junior Board Liaison Sub-Committee. She has partnered with professional board officers, members and advisors who strategically identified resources and pioneered impactful service outcomes. Capacity building remains her mission.

SCHOOLS

Michelle has partnered with and supported dynamic Heads of Schools, School Directors, Executive Directors, Academic Directors, Admissions Directors, Academic Services Directors, and Program Directors. She fostered school-partnerships with boarding, independent day, parochial, therapeutic, transitional, and public schools throughout the NY Tri-State Region. As a result, Michelle has managed student programs from admissions to outplacement, and gained a deep knowledge of the student life cycle from preschool to college.

In 2017, Michelle launched the first high school International-Sheltered ESL/ELL academics program in Connecticut through Bachson Academy in partnership with Trinity Catholic High School in Stamford, CT. This innovative school-program partnership bridges the gap of international students’ ability to thrive in mainstream classes. After her provisional and project management role, she remained committed to the english language learner population by serving as an ESL/ELL Teacher for the 2017-2018 Bachson Academy year.

Over the years, Michelle has worked with various student populations from diverse social and economic backgrounds. She directed and served as a Student Advisor for remedial to gifted students, with various learning styles, learning differences, emotional and behavior disorders at Links Academy, a Greenwich Education Group private school.

www.greenwicheducationgroup.com
www.linksacademy.org
www.spireschool.org

She has also sat on multiple private school committees and sub-committees in the Greenwich-Stamford-Westport metro area.

SCHOOLS COMMITTEE
ADMISSIONS COMMITTEE
ACADEMICS SUB-COMMITTEE
POLICY SUB-COMMITTEE
SAFETY COMMITTEE
STUDENT LIFE COMMITTEE

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Since 2008, Michelle’s coterie have described her as a creative businesswoman who relentlessly works with a high-energy-tornado-like force that will sweep you up into her community development whirlwind.

She has successfully collaborated with schools, government agencies, community-based organizations, local businesses, active parents and diverse stakeholders throughout New York and Connecticut.

COMMUNITY BUILDING

Her most notable community linkage and partnership was with Junior Achievement of New York, Inc. In June 2010, Michelle was the recipient of the Junior Achievement of New York’s Community Partner of the Year award. She was recognized for managing and promoting a financial literacy program linkage, which led to a donated space for the JA Mobile Finance Park that served 500+ middle & high school students.

JANY Community Partner of the Year