Michelle Crow was the founding Executive Director of the Beyond Foundation. In 2020, she stepped down as Executive Director and transitioned to the Board of Directors. Previously, Michelle was the owner of a small business, Crow Communications, and in that capacity spearheaded a variety of projects for local organizations, such as developing issue advocacy campaigns, conducting strategic communications, fostering community engagement, and facilitating coalition-building across organizations. It was during this time that she became involved in a community-wide effort to honor those who lost their lives in the tragic shooting at Congresswoman Giffords’ Congress of Your Corner event in 2011, including her friend Gabe Zimmerman, aide to the Congresswoman. Nearly ten years later, the Beyond Foundation has grown out of those inspiring commemorative efforts to be what it is today – a full formed 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to improving individual and community health through good science and rational analysis. Previously, Michelle worked for Congressman Grijalva for eight years as a community outreach liaison in his Congressional office, switching over to manage his re-election campaigns every other year. Prior to that, she worked for a domestic violence agency as a counselor, case manager, and crisis line advocate and also as an legal assistant to a family law attorney. Today, she serves as Southern Arizona Director for Children’s Action Alliance, advocating for kids health, education and security. She is married to a TUSD Kindergarten teacher and is the mom of two college aged kids, who are pursuing their own interesting academic studies, leading up to new and exciting career paths that she loves watching unfold. Michelle is a proud two-time alumnus from the University of Arizona having received her Master’s in Public Administration in 2011 and her Bachelors in Political Science in 1994. She is honored to have helped build the Beyond Foundation with an amazing group of dedicated individuals who literally go BEYOND every day. In her spare time, she loves hanging out and laughing with her family, getting outdoors and hiking Arizona trails with friends, and is currently obsessed with her biggest “comeback” of all – starting to run again after having had open-heart surgery in early 2020 to replace her bi-cuspid aortic valve. She is thrilled to say that day-by-day, she makes progress in meeting her newest health goals and is loving every minute of it!