Michelle has a special connection with vulnerable people and animals. Armed with a Master's Degree in Special Education, her field of study and professional practice over the last 8 years has centered around children and adolescents with Autism. She is an experienced general and special education teacher and a licensed Behavior Technician, certified by the State of Nevada Board of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA.) She has worked with children and their parents and guardians on-site and via telehealth.

Michelle is a passionate steward of our planet and the animals and humans who live on it. In her personal time, she volunteers for animal welfare and environmental organizations in the Clark County and Southern Nevada region. She loves to travel, swim, and snuggle with her sweet rescue cat. A native New Mexican with deep Sicilian roots, Michelle is equally at home in the desert and by an ocean. She loves astronomy and is a self-proclaimed Trekkie. She is often called an animal whisperer by people who work in the animal welfare field or whose pets have come in contact with her. Michelle has a particular energy that puts animals and vulnerable people at ease—some call it magic; her mother says she was born that way.