Michele Dorris is no stranger to philanthropy. Growing up in her native Jamaica, Michele experienced early and often the role of giving back from her parents who modeled the responsibility of giving in service, whether by action and/or monetarily. Given Jamaica’s small size, Michele was fortunate to have the opportunity to see firsthand the outcome of doing good and helping people in the process.
While working in the role of Global Process Owner, Customer Ordering Experience with Novartis Pharmaceuticals, a global healthcare pharmaceutical company, Michele and her team design the organization’s processes and systems.
She often chuckles when someone relates using a Novartis product, as if to identify with the company, though Michele has no direct contact with the manufacturing process or even the products themselves. She focuses her time on the business end of the organization’s process improvement.
Among the reasons that Michele joined Impact100 South Jersey is to connect and become involved with other local and like-minded philanthropic women. She enjoys building community and supporting other women and nonprofit organizations. Michele views Impact100’s personal approach as a wonderful step to creating meaningful impact by collaborating with women colleagues who share a similar value.
As a new member, Michele has really enjoyed the onboarding process and is pleased that she finally took the leap to join, given several of her Impact100 South Jersey’s friends’ recommendations. She is impressed by how welcoming and involved so many of the organization’s members are. In short, Michele feels at home and sees a path to making her philanthropic dollars have more impact, now more than ever.
Of particular interest to Michele has been how Impact100 South Jersey connects its members with its grantees by creating opportunities to volunteer, sometimes onsite, at grantees’ locations to help fill numerous needs, whether it be on-site grounds clean up, gleaning projects, just to name a few.
In light of Impact100’s stellar reputation built over the years, Michele views it as a trusted organization through which to channel her philanthropic funds.
Long engaged in DEI through her professional activities, Michele looks forward to lending her expertise to elevate Impact100 South Jersey’s initiatives in this area, both at the membership and grantee level.
Michele looks forward to increasing her ability to influence the grantee selection process, given the vast number of qualified applicants, and pressing local needs. She is passionate about jumping in to help make a positive difference in the lives of others through her growing involvement.
When Michele is not working virtually in her Mount Laurel home, you can often find her at her Monmouth County Shore house where she enjoys maintaining an active workout schedule along with gardening and an array of craft projects.
Fun fact: Michele and each of her four family members are all professional engineers, of different stripes.
One of Michele’s favorite quotes is “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love”, words often spoken by Mother Teresa.
To build connections within the Impact100 South Jersey community, Michele invites outreach via email at mahmmddap@yahoo.com or 856.912.1033.