Michelle Strucke graduated from the School of Humanities & Sciences at Ithaca College with a degree in sociology, concentration in race and ethnic relations, and a minor in politics.
Throughout her career, she has focused on humanitarian affairs, human rights, and development issues at the intersection of conflict. She currently serves as Director of the Humanitarian Agenda and the Human Rights Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington, DC-based global think tank.
In 2021, Michelle was appointed by President Biden to serve in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Policy, initially as Principal Director for Stability and Humanitarian Affairs, and then as the first Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Global Partnerships. As a lifelong humanitarian and human rights advocate suddenly thrust into the Defense space, appointed as the senior most official at the Pentagon focused on human rights and humanitarian affairs, she both learned new perspectives on the most pressing issues of the time and brought a human-centered lens to DOD’s policies, including COVID-19 and other disaster responses, atrocity prevention; women, peace, and security; civilian protection and peacekeeping and stability operations. She played a pivotal role in initiating historic, systemic reform efforts to improve the DOD’s approaches to civilian harm mitigation and security cooperation.
Prior to her government service, Michelle served for a decade in human rights, development policy, and humanitarian roles at Oxfam America, Islamic Relief USA, and the Syrian American Medical Society. She supported underground field hospitals in Syria, refugees in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, civic space advocates in Cambodia, and conducted research and advocacy aimed at transforming the international aid system to make it more locally led.
Michelle is the recipient of the Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarship from the U.S. Department of State to study abroad in Cairo, Egypt, where she studied Arabic and volunteered with refugees. She holds a master’s degree in International Human Rights Law from the American University in Cairo, Egypt. From 2016 to 2021, she served under two Virginia Governors on the Virginia Council on Women.
A transfer student from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Michelle was grateful to spend time in the School of Music during her time at IC. She toured with the Ithaca College Choir and Women’s Chorale, played in the djembe ensemble, and performed with the Melodramatics Theater Company at nearby Cornell University. She was also an award-winning Model United Nations delegate, and founded an Arabic club.
A New Jersey native, Michelle lives in Northern Virginia with her husband Zaki and three children Zoon, Amedeo, and Rumi. In her free time, she enjoys exploring nature, singing, and creating something out of nothing. She hopes to inspire socioeconomically disadvantaged students to use their voices in global public service.