Michelle Murphy and her husband, Bryan, are parents of 2 children in 5th and 7th grade attending local Newport-Mesa Unified schools. They love our Costa Mesa community and enjoy being active volunteers, calling the city home for more than a decade.

One of Michelle’s sons has the unique experience of NMUSD’s Special Education programming. The experiences with this program ignited Michelle’s passion for advocacy, where she saw much more could be done for our children with special needs and their educational success.

Michelle was previously elected to the Woodland Elementary Site Council and began regularly volunteering in her sons’ classrooms. She has since been the President of the Kaiser Woodland PFO (Parent Faculty Organization) for the past 3 years and has been actively assisting with navigating the complex hurdles Covid has brought to our community. Her participation in numerous school activities and community organizations, including serving on the City of Costa Mesa’s Parks Commission and Housing and Public Services Grants Committee has given her deep insight into the issues facing NMUSD.

Michelle earned her Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Southern California focusing on Communities, Organizations, Planning and Administration. Her career has been dedicated to working on behalf of children and families at various social service and education focused nonprofits.

Michelle currently works as the Senior Director of Public Affairs at Orange County United Way while also serving on the Board of Directors for the OC Forum, Board of the Costa Mesa High School Foundation, Co-Chair of the Health Funders Partnership of Orange County, Co-Chair of Covered OC, Strategic Advisory Board Member for the Community Health Initiative of Orange County, and Member of the Costa Mesa Early Childhood Coalition and Early Childhood OC.

Michelle’s kids-first approach, can-do attitude and commitment to hard work will be a refreshing change in leadership for our students in Costa Mesa.