Michele Jolin

Senior Fellow

Michele Jolin is a Senior Fellow at American Progress focusing on building a policy environment to support social entrepreneurship. Most recently, Jolin was at the White House as a senior advisor for social innovation, in the newly created Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation. In that role, she designed the Social Innovation Fund and other policy tools to drive investment toward more innovative and effective solutions to our nation’s most critical social problems. Jolin also served on President Obama’s Presidential Transition Team, as chair of the Innovation in Society policy working group.

Prior to joining the White House, Jolin co-edited the Center for American Progress Action Fund’s presidential transition document titled Change for America: A Progressive Blueprint for the 44th President. She also authored a number of articles and reports on policy tools to promote innovation and impact in the nonprofit sector, including a Stanford Social Innovation Review piece arguing for a White House Office of Social Innovation.

Jolin was a senior vice president at Ashoka, a global foundation that invests in social entrepreneurs in more than 50 countries around the world. At Ashoka, she was responsible for launching and managing several global initiatives designed to support the growth of the global fellows and to replicate the most effective, social entrepreneurial ideas.

Jolin served as the chief of staff for President Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisers, for CEA chairs Joseph Stiglitz and Janet Yellen. She also worked for Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) on the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee.