Michaela has 10 years of experience in service design, procurement, contract management, and people management with the Department of Corrections. Her public service experience has helped hone her skills in project design and evaluation, business development, operational management, stakeholder relationship management, and negotiation. She speaks fluent French and has a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in International Relations, which has given her familiarity with the political and socioeconomic contexts of overseas markets. She completed an MBA with Massey University in November 2024, specialising in Digital Transformation. She has a special interest in design thinking, customer-centric design, and organisational transformation.