Michelle Pullaro appointed as Chief Administration Officer

Per Scholas is proud to announce the appointment of Michelle Pullaro as the Chief Administrative Officer of its national operations.

Michelle is a familiar face around Per Scholas. From 2002-2007, she oversaw Per Scholas’ operations covering multiple leadership roles in marketing, fund development, program design, and manufacturing. “We are happy to have Michelle’s leadership and organizational development experience to help lead us through this exciting time. Per Scholas’ impact is 4,000 strong across five cities but we have a lot more work to do and Michelle’s leadership will help us get there,” Plinio Ayala, President and CEO, shared.

Currently Per Scholas operates five offices across the country with continued national expansion into new markets. In the very near future, thousands of individuals will be trained in IT-Ready and other courses annually with a national alumni network approaching 10,000. This expansion in size and scope requires additional strategic leadership as well as leadership around human capital management, organizational design and development, and operational management.

“As a nonprofit management consultant I have had the opportunity of working with dozens of great organizations over the past six years. This new chapter in my career has often raised the question, why Per Scholas? The headline is simple…critical mission, high impact, innovative and incredible team. These ingredients all in one place is not easy to find and I believe they all exist at Per Scholas,” Michelle Pullaro shared. “I am motivated by the opportunity to reenvision Per Scholas as it transitions from a growing and expanding New York-based nonprofit to a national movement that has proven an effective pathway out of poverty into careers that contribute to local demand.”

Today Michelle has built a resume with 20 years of cross-sector leadership, consulting and organizational development experience. Most recently Michelle served as the Managing Partner of management consulting firm, Quidoo, helping nonprofits develop the management and organizational capacity to achieve results. Michelle specialized in working with high-impact organizations to implement fundraising strategies that increase efficiency, diversify revenue streams, enable growing enterprises to scale effectively, enhance cross-sector partnerships and create high performing teams.

Prior to her role as a consultant and advisor to nonprofits, Michelle was the Executive Director for Taproot Foundation, Eastern Region. Taproot Foundation is the nation’s largest nonprofit consulting organization. In addition to increasing revenue in Taproot’s Eastern Region by 40% and launching the Boston and DC operations, she built a high performing team that managed an $8M portfolio of pro bono consulting engagements in the areas of marketing, strategy management and leadership development.

Before finding her passion in the nonprofit sector, Michelle held various leadership roles with Automatic Data Processing (ADP) in Sales Management, Corporate Training, and Corporate Marketing and over the course of her career at ADP Michelle was a recipient of numerous awards and distinctions.

Michelle holds an MBA from Baruch College’s Zicklin School of Business, where she was a recipient of a NASH Honors Scholarship. She also attended Columbia University’s Executive Program in Nonprofit Management, and holds a BA in Economics and Political Science from University of Wisconsin, Madison. Michelle lives in Madison, New Jersey with her husband JJ and children Ethan and Ava.

We are very pleased to welcome her (back) to Per Scholas.