Michelle MacKinnon

The Alberta Family Wellness Initiative
Contractor, Community Stakeholder Engagement

Michelle MacKinnon has devoted more than four decades to improving outcomes for children and families through the fields of education and community service. Her professional focus on the pivotal importance of healthy brain development across the lifespan emerged in 2013, following her introduction to the Brain Story through the Alberta Family Wellness Initiative. A committed advocate for early learning, Ms. MacKinnon played an instrumental role in advancing Brain Story-informed, play-based educational programs for learners in southern Alberta.

Upon retiring from her career as Deputy Superintendent of Schools, Michelle returned to her home province of Nova Scotia, where she currently works as a Community Stakeholder Engagement Contractor with the Palix Foundation. In this capacity, she works to strengthen the integration of scientific research, policy, and practice in the field of brain development, supporting the foundational determinants of lifelong health and well-being.

Michelle holds a Bachelor of Arts in Community Studies from Cape Breton University, a Bachelor of Education from St. Francis Xavier University, and a Master of Education from Gonzaga University.