Expert Profile

Ms S. Michele Nix is an Associate Fellow within the Global Fellowship Initiative of the GCSP. S. Michele Nix has more than three decades of experience as an advisor, spokesperson and speechwriter for prominent leaders in government and industry. She is currently an independent communications consultant and an Associate Fellow with the Geneva Centre for Security Policy, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. Ms. Nix previously served as chief communications officer and spokesperson at Ridge Global, an international security consultancy led by Tom Ridge, the first secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. She also served as a senior DHS public affairs official and director of speechwriting to then-Secretary Ridge, and later Secretary Michael Chertoff. For eight years prior, Ms. Nix was a consultant, focusing on executive visibility, reputation management and speechwriting for prominent national and global figures. In previous positons, Ms. Nix was as a senior corporate communications aide to the chairman of MCI and, before that, served on President George H. W. Bush's White House speechwriting staff. She is the author/editor of Women at the Podium, a landmark compendium of speeches by famous women in history, and is a frequent speaker on the U.S. Presidency, U.S. politics, national security communications and women in public service. Ms. Nix holds a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Texas and an M.A. in Public Communication from American University. She is also a graduate of the Senior Executive Program at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.