About Michelle

Dr. Michelle Neuman is an Impact Fellow at the Federation of American Scientists in Washington, DC. From 2023 to 2025, she was embedded in the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). As the Playful Learning and Innovation Impact Fellow, she expanded professional opportunities and curated resources for USAID staff on learning through play, pre-primary education, and early childhood development. She also provided targeted technical support to USAID education teams in Ethiopia, Tajikistan, and Uganda.

As an applied scholar, Michelle’s research and teaching focus on politics and policy in low- and middle-income countries. Throughout her career, she has worked to strengthen policies and programs related to young children’s early development and learning. For more than a decade, she was a faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania, Graduate School of Education, where she taught courses and advised students in the International Educational Development Program.

As Senior Fellow at Results for Development (R4D), Michelle conducted applied research on early learning and parenting programs, built collaborative learning communities, and worked directly with government officials on policy planning for early childhood development. She developed and led R4D’s portfolio in early childhood development from 2014 to 2017.

Previously, Michelle led the World Bank’s global early childhood development program after successfully managing a regional program of analytical work and peer learning in 10 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. As Senior Education Specialist, she helped to raise the visibility of early childhood development on the World Bank’s agenda and worked closely with government officials and development partners to design, implement, and evaluate early childhood policies and programs.

Before joining the World Bank, she was responsible for a portfolio of early childhood activities at the Open Society Foundations and served as Special Advisor for the UNESCO Global Monitoring Report, Strong Foundations: Early Childhood Care and Education (2007). Earlier in her career, she directed the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) first review of early childhood education and care policy in 12 countries and co-authored (with Dr. John Bennett) the comparative report, Starting Strong (2001).

Michelle holds a Ph.D. in Politics and Education from Columbia University and a A.B. in public and international affairs from Princeton University. She received research training at the Yale University Edward Zigler Center in Child Development and Social Policy and the National Center for Children and Families at Teachers College.