Michelle Chira — Director

Michelle is a lifelong resident of Orlando. She spent 13 years in leadership roles with the Junior League of Greater Orlando, serving in the capacity of Vice President twice. Through her direct efforts with the League, the Family Support and Visitation Center was created as a warm, home-like setting for children in foster care to visit with their biological parents, in addition to providing parenting classes and support. It has served over 8,000 families since its inception. In honor of her commitment to the community and volunteerism, the Junior League awarded her the 2007 Outstanding Service Award.

After seeing firsthand that these foster children were the most at-risk children in our community and were getting the least amount of support, she teamed up with 3 other Central Florida women leaders spending 2 years researching their specific unmet needs and gaps in support. In 2008, the Foundation for Foster Children was founded. In the last 10 years, FFC has provided critical support for our community’s abused, abandoned and neglected children. The mission of the Foundation is to enhance the lives of children in foster care through support and advocacy by creating opportunities for a brighter future.

She has also served on a number of civic and philanthropic Board of Directors, which include; the City of Orlando Historic Preservation Board, Habitat for Humanity of Orlando and Chairman of the Orange County Planning and Zoning Commission. In addition, she is a Leadership Orlando alumnus and has been active in the Greater Orlando Chamber of Commerce.

Michelle has been recognized and honored numerous times for her community impact. Among those, she was the recipient of the SafeCo Neighbor Award and Bank of America Community Hero Award, as well as Florida Commission on the Status of Women Achievement Award. She was also recognized by Glamour® Magazine with their “Best of You 2010″ award, in addition to Orlando Magazine’s Women of the Year award. She has volunteered for 12 years for the Girl Scouts of America as a Troop Leader developing our young girls into future women community volunteers and leaders.

Michelle manages her family’s business and investment portfolio, and she is an alumnus of H. Sophie Newcomb College, Tulane University.