Michelle Speas, MA, CFRE

Michelle Speas joined Family Services in 2011 after serving on the board of directors for two years. When Al Renna announced his retirement in 2011, he invited Michelle to envision, implement, and create the division she led for over a decade to elevate the agency from $7M to current revenue surpassing $20M. Her relationship with four of Family Services’ CEOs – Sarah Austin, Al Renna, Bob Feikema, and Traci Ross- has provided her with a deep commitment to the mission and vision of the agency. She is often heard saying, “Always put the agency first in our decision-making.”

In 2021, she was named the inaugural executive director of the Family Services Foundation. In 2023, she assumed the role of Chief Operating Officer at the agency and oversees IT, facilities/real estate management, Federal and State grants programs, marketing, public relations, and fundraising to ensure that the agency’s day-to-day operations are aligned with the Strategic Plan.

With over thirty years of domestic and international experience in philanthropy, communications, and public relations, she has served as the founding Chief Executive Officer of one of North Carolina’s largest private family foundations. In addition, while at Old Salem Museums & Gardens as Vice President of Development and External Relations, she was selected National Fundraiser of the Year by Fundraising Success magazine as well as Fundraising Professional of the Year by the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) NC Triad Chapter. Michelle has also served as a staff member at United Way of Greater High Point, a private secondary school in Greensboro, and as National Partnership Director of Africa Renewal Ministries.

Michelle is a frequent speaker, locally and nationally, on fundraising, strategic planning, communications, team building, board development, ethics, and governance. She teaches nonprofit operations, revenue generation, communications, & leadership development. She has been an adjunct instructor at Wake Forest University, UNC School of the Arts, Salem College, and High Point University. An Association of Fundraising Professionals Triad Chapter member since 1997, she has twice chaired the state-wide NC Philanthropy Conference. She has served on several national and Triad nonprofit boards, including Smart Start, Family Services, Second Harvest Food Bank, Alliance for Strong Families and Children, United Way, Winston-Salem Youth Chorus, and the Chamber of Commerce.  She is currently a board member of Riverwood Therapeutic Riding Center.

A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Mississippi, Michelle holds a bachelor of arts and master of arts in history. She graduated from Duke University’s Certificate in Nonprofit Management program, the Center for Creative Leadership’s Leadership Development Program, and earned her CFRE certification in 2009. Michelle is a native of Winston-Salem and a proud graduate of Parkland High School.

Her great-grandmother, Katherine Broughton Fletcher, was a founding board member of the agency in 1905.