Duke Leadership Academy Scholars Profile

Michelle Benham

Title: Sr Director for Communications
Location:
Senior Management Area: Durham and Community Affairs
Class Year: 2025

Bio:
Michelle Benham is the senior director for communications at Duke Community Affairs. She is an accomplished leader, award-winning multimedia producer, and communications expert with 15+ years of storytelling experience in the public and private sectors, including government, higher ed, and nonprofits. She is adept at amplifying diverse voices and co-creating partnership opportunities to advance community collaboration. Prior to joining DCA, Michelle led the marketing and communications team at Durham-based national nonprofit Forward Cities. She also served as marketing director at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, an internationally renowned program of the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University. Previously, she created award-winning content and campaigns at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Discovery Learning Alliance, and Discovery Communications. Michelle is a Goodmon Fellow through Leadership Triangle and participated in the 2023 Regional cohort. She is an alumna of the esteemed Emerging Wildlife Conservation Leaders program and was a founding board member of the Conservation Leadership in the Caribbean fellowship, a capacity-building, networking, and leadership development program for emerging climate science and wildlife conservation leaders in the wider Caribbean region. Michelle holds an M.F.A. in Film & Media from the School of Communication at American University and a B.S. in Ecology from the University of Georgia. She and her family are proud residents of Durham, NC, and have a deep affection for the Eno River.