Michelle Wiener (she/her)
DIRECTOR OF YOUTH LEADERSHIP AND ADVOCACY
Michelle joined BAGLY in January 2023 as the organization’s first Director of Youth Leadership & Advocacy. Michelle brings experience in both youth development programming and legal and policy advocacy. She is passionate about working at the intersection of these fields to support youth in building critical consciousness and collective power.
Michelle has developed, managed, and evaluated mentoring, health education, social-emotional learning, and leadership programs for youth ages 11 to 22. She got her start in HIV-prevention and sex education, which she still has a soft spot for. Her most similar previous experience was managing the Youth Force program at Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation. Under her leadership, Youth Force was revitalized into a thriving youth-led community organizing program. Most recently, Michelle worked for Attorney General Maura Healey’s Office overseeing a statewide middle school substance use prevention program.
Michelle also has experience advocating for youth through impact litigation and public policy. She spent four years at GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) working closely with GLAD’s Youth Initiative to advocate for youth in schools, state care, and juvenile justice facilities. She also supported numerous precedent-setting legal and policy victories, including Obergefell v. Hodges, the U.S. Supreme Court case that won nationwide marriage equality. After GLAD, Michelle worked with the Green & Healthy Homes Initiative to pass the Maryland Healthy Children Act.
Michelle has her Master of Public Health degree from Johns Hopkins with a focus on critical youth development. She loves good books, bad movies, low-key dinner parties, queer theory, and watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer with her cat, Willow.