Michelle Reddy

Michelle Reddy is an Assistant Adjunct Professor and Program Director for the Master of Development Practice (MDP) at the University of California, Berkeley. She has also been a lecturer at Stanford University and Sciences Po, and from 2019-2022 she was a postdoctoral fellow in Comparative Politics and International Relations at Sciences Po. She received her PhD in 2019 from Stanford University in International Comparative Education. She draws on political science and organizational sociology to investigate the role of non-state actors, such as NGOs, CSOs, parents' organizations, teachers' unions, in development, democratization, and crises (Ebola, migration, COVID-19). Michelle is passionate about novel approaches to research design, including making RCTs more participatory.

 

In 2018, Michelle was a Fulbright-Hays fellow in Sierra Leone and Guinea. From 2016-2017 and again from 2017-2018 Michelle was a FLAS fellowship recipient. From 2016-2018, her work has also been funded by the Stanford Center for African Studies, the Stanford Center for Philanthropy and Civil Society, the Stanford Center for International Conflict Resolution and Negotiation. She also received the Kathryn Davis Peace fellowship to study Portuguese at Middlebury.

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In addition to her PhD, Michelle holds master's degrees in Political Science (Stanford), international education development (Columbia University), and higher education administration (Columbia University),  as well as a BA from Boston College, where she double-majored in politics and history. Her working languages include French and Portuguese.

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Prior to Stanford, from, 2010-2014, Michelle was Assistant Dean at the Paris School of International Affairs, which she helped launch in 2010.  Prior to Sciences Po, Michelle was based at UNOWA in Dakar, Senegal, where she assisted with mediation and democratic transition in Guinea-Conakry, and focused on engaging West African civil society in peacebuilding.

 

Other organizations Michelle has worked for include the City University of New York, the Millennium Cities Initiative at the Earth Institute of Columbia University, UNESCO, Columbia University, the University of the Middle East Project, and the Irish Institute of Boston College, all of which consisted of education projects. Originally from Brooklyn, New York, she has worked in the US, France, Senegal, Guinea, and Sierra Leone. As a first-generation college student and first-generation American, she enjoys mentoring students.