I’ve had the pleasure of working with Michele for more than seven years, and she has become an invaluable extension of our communications team. Michele supports a wide range of fundraising, stewardship and alumni engagement projects, from donor and alumni stories to stewardship reports, honoree bios and event scripts. She works directly with alumni, donors and colleagues across the organization, quickly understanding objectives, conducting thoughtful interviews and turning complex information into compelling, audience-focused content. Michele is highly responsive, receptive to feedback and consistently able to produce high-quality work under tight deadlines. I would highly recommend her to any organization looking for an experienced and reliable communications professional.

I met Michelle during the 2024 Coffee with a Career Counselor event I hosted, where she immediately stood out for her proactive approach and willingness to offer her services to Chesterfield County. In 2025, she delivered an outstanding workshop on maximizing LinkedIn for the Cultivating Confidence and Skills program. Michelle took complex concepts and translated them into clear, actionable guidance, and her handouts are still used today with job seekers looking to strengthen their profiles. I highly recommend Michelle for her ability to make information accessible, her professionalism, and her friendly, collaborative spirit.

I worked with Michele when I was director of Development Communications at Montclair State University. We regularly turned to her as a trusted resource to write donor and alumni articles and direct mail pieces. Michele is responsive, professional and genuinely interested in capturing people’s stories. She makes your life easier and is a wonderful colleague.

The articles Michele wrote for our alumni magazine were very engaging and conveyed each unique story very well. She is exceptionally talented at putting people at ease during the interview process. This was not only a good investment in stewarding our alumni donors, but it also helped to inform and cultivate prospective alumni donors who may want to do the same and give back to the University. I would recommend Michele to anyone looking for a strong writer with exceptional people skills.

The Sankofa Collaborative – a group of organizations formed to conduct workshops and provide resources on African American history to museums, historic sites, libraries, civic and faith groups, and others – works with Silver Lining Communications to promote our work. Michele’s creative design and excellent writing are evident on our website and e-newsletters and her organizational skills have been invaluable to the volunteers on the Sankofa team. As important to us is that she shares our passion for social justice!

I have been working with Michele Hickey for over ten years and the caliber of work she produces is outstanding! She possesses excellent communication skills, complemented by phenomenal research and writing skills. Michele is extremely reliable, a team player and always demonstrates the ability to rise to any challenge. I look forward to many more years of collaboration with Michele on my Donor Relations projects.

Michele and I have worked together on various projects. Her writing skills are superb! She asks the right questions and works diligently to craft just the right message. She would be an asset to any team seeking someone with excellent communications skills.

The story I had tell was very personal. Michele was able to capture the raw emotion from my hand written journals. The completed manuscript exceeded my expectations. I highly recommend Michele–you won’t be sorry. Michele’s professional approach is over the moon.