Michelle Westfort brings more than 20 years of professional experience in higher education programs and partnerships to InStride. In her current role as Chief University Officer, she oversees the entire Academic Partnerships team and leads the development of InStride’s highly curated global network of academic partners, which includes top-tier research universities. 

Prior to joining InStride, Michelle was the Vice President of Business Development for The Learning House (acquired by Wiley) where she was responsible for developing higher education partnerships to build online programs. Previously, she held leadership positions at Pivot Worldwide, building workforce development opportunities for global learners and at Navitas, the Australian-based pathway provider responsible for expanding enrollments at US-based public universities from major markets including the Middle East, China and Latin America. 

Michelle focused her early career on high school partnerships that inspired creative learning at The Art Institutes where she led recruitment, business development, marketing and admissions teams. She started her career at Snelling Search, helping build the first online platform for recent college graduates beginning their careers in finance. 

Michelle has also devoted her time to volunteer causes as the Director of Commit2Change’s Campus Ambassador Program and a mentor to female leaders in the international education sector through Lead5050. 

She has studied at INSEAD in Singapore through a corporate-sponsored program and holds a Doctor of Education, Organizational Leadership from Argosy University, a Master of Arts from New Jersey City University and a Bachelor of Arts from Monmouth University and has taken courses through Harvard Extension and the University of California-Irvine.