NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Michelle Sternis the technical director for Technical Learning and Standards at ACDI/VOCA’s West Africa office. She has extensive experience in the international development sector, including 12 years of field experience in Eastern Europe and Africa, and five years supporting ACDI/VOCA’s global new business strategy.

In her current role as technical advisor, Michelle supports new business efforts from ACDI/VOCA’s West Africa regional office, provides technical support to existing projects and contributes to the learning and technical growth agenda. She provides regional gender support, including gender analysis in agriculture, pro-poor value chain development and increasing women’s access to economic opportunities. Her areas of expertise include project design and implementation, performance monitoring, workshop facilitation and training, strategy development, proposal writing and project/sector assessment and evaluation. Prior to joining ACDI/VOCA, Michelle managed the development of a new multiyear Mission strategy for USAID/Serbia & Montenegro. She brings broad private sector knowledge from various experiences, including two years as an equity analyst for Deutsche Bank in Turkey. She has a background in qualitative and quantitative research and analysis covering a wide range of topics related to economic growth, food security and community development. Stern received a master’s degree in Business Development from the University of Durham. She is a native English speaker and speaks intermediate Spanish.