DIRECTOR & CHAIR

Michelle is a mitigation specialist and a California licensed investigator at Community Resource Initiative (CRI), a capital defense office and resource center based in San Francisco, California.  She is a founding board member at Pangea Legal Services and worked to build the organization at its formation stages starting in November 2012. 

Michelle collaborates on social history and mental health investigations that build narratives to challenge the death penalty and improve the legal representation of men and women facing the death penalty.  Through her work at CRI, she contributes to special programs that serve and support communities disproportionately affected by the death penalty and mass incarceration.  These include collaborations with local educators, artists and students that focus on disseminating important stories and knowledge to create change. 

Prior to her work at CRI, Michelle collaborated with attorneys in the legal defense of immigrants facing banishment from the United States and for a daily newspaper in Caracas, Venezuela.