As Senior Fellow of Movement Alignment, Michelle Mascarenhas (she/they) co-designs the internal/external political education program, plays a leadership role in the Global Climate Reparations Initiative, and supports Taproot’s cross-pollination across national and international social movement formations.

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Michelle worked for three decades building movement vehicles for frontline communities to move a shared vision and strategy. They were a co-director on the staff collective of Movement Generation (MG) for nearly 15 years until 2021. They joined Taproot after leaving their position as National Director of Campaigns at the Sierra Club in 2023.

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Michelle played critical roles in MG’s Just Transition curriculum development and training, strategic planning, organizational development, and funder organizing. In that capacity, she has conducted workshops and retreats for thousands of people internationally including grassroots leaders, people in the philanthropic sector including people with wealth, government officials, students, and more. Michelle was a founding co-chair of the Climate Justice Alliance (CJA) and helped to launch Reinvest in Our Power which works to reinvest stolen wealth into community controlled economic transition. They have worked on food sovereignty, energy democracy, labor organizing, just transition finance and land reparations. 

Michelle is a Kellogg Food Policy Fellow and Ashoka Fellow Alum.

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