Michelle Cote is the Co-Founder and Director of The Purpose Project, an initiative designed to inspire and equip the next generation of social leadership by capturing the accumulated wisdom of society’s most accomplished and experienced social changemakers. Prior to leading The Purpose Project, Michelle worked as a Program Manager for Aid to Artisans, an organization that specializes in the development of craft enterprises around the world. There, she helped plan and implement two three-year, multi-million dollar artisan enterprise development initiatives in Peru and Bolivia, navigate a transition of scale for a program in Colombia, and design and launch a pilot program in Afghanistan. Michelle is a graduate of the University of Connecticut where she studied the interface between sustainable development, the environment, and social change. Her honors thesis examined the impact made by a multi-village cooperative’s efforts to preserve their indigenous environment within the Ecuadorian Amazon through low-impact craft production and sustainable agriculture.

Blog Entries by Michelle Cote

Archbishop Tutu's Dream for the Future

Posted June 5, 2009 | 05:39 PM (EST)


"I'm comiiiiinggg!" Archbishop Tutu sings out from the adjacent room, the words rolling off his tongue in a playfully high-pitched refrain, before he comes wheeling and teetering -- all 5'2" of him -- around the corner of his suite at the Atlanta Grand Hyatt.

Deep breath in. The adrenaline unleashed...

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Moving from 'Yes, We Can' to Yes We Are!

Posted January 21, 2009 | 05:31 PM (EST)


This week, community service has been more popular than ever. Monday, millions of Americans from coast to coast joined forces to complete over 11,000 officially-registered community service projects designed to "bridge barriers, strengthen communities, and empower individuals" as part of the 2009 King Day of Service. Although the King Holiday...

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Giving Thanks And Calling For Change

Posted November 27, 2008 | 03:29 PM (EST)


Two years ago today, I was boarding a plane to Kabul. I was going to work on one of the many post-conflict development programs being implemented in Afghanistan. I believed that I was going to help its citizens define a new future for their country.

The decision to go to...

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Social Return on Investment Remains Strong Despite Lagging Economy

Posted November 11, 2008 | 05:14 PM (EST)


Boston, MA-On Thursday, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute received a check for $35 million from the Pan-Massachusetts Challenge (PMC), the most successful athletic fundraising event in the nation. Some of these dollars will be used to treat a portion of the 1.4 million children and adults who will be diagnosed with cancer...

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