Jonlieu's Founder

Prior to launching Jonlieu, Michelle held various roles in education including textbook author, teacher, and adjunct professor. She would later become a highly successful school district administrator who led cross-disciplinary teams at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. In this role, she not only accelerated the learning and development of those teams and increased productivity, but also, she and her teams developed a new district-wide curriculum that improved instruction and student learning. In 2017, Michelle received the Award for Excellence in District Administration.

Though she excelled and made a significant impact in the district, ultimately, work-related stress led to Michelle having one of the worst Sickle Cell Disease flare-ups she had ever experienced. That’s when she knew it was time for a transition. While tending to her well-being she pondered entrepreneurship and discovered that launching a business would be how she would continue supporting the leaders and teams she admired.

Around the same time, she was working with a non-profit, designing curriculum for a youth program. She fell in love with the non-profit’s director (her now husband) and the non-profit sector. Educational leaders and non-profit leaders often face the same types of challenges—high stress, high stakeholder expectations, low budgets, limited support, and constant transitions, to name a few. That’s where Michelle comes in. She supports these leaders through professional coaching, focused on wholistic leadership, team leadership, and navigating transitions as well as facilitation services designed to promote people-centered problem-solving and team development.

Michelle’s coaching and facilitation expertise makes a notable difference for her clients, like Union Capital Boston, a non-profit that assists under-resourced residents. Michelle worked with their leadership director to develop a community-focused leadership program and curriculum while also increasing the leader’s capacity to support team learning and development. With a people-first approach, Michelle dramatically elevates individuals, teams, and organizations to perform at their highest levels.

She holds a B.A. in Spanish Language and Literature and received a Master’s in Education, Teaching and Learning and a Doctor of Education from Nova Southeastern University. She is a Certified Master Coach from the Center for Coaching Certification and is a proud member of the International Coaching Federation. She also holds professional certificates in Transitional Intelligence, Team Development Essentials, Design Thinking, and Agile Project Management.

In her free time, Michelle enjoys gardening, nature photography, and writing children’s stories.