World
Description of Work:

Gavin is a Fellow on Africa for the Council on Foreign Relations and an expert on U.S. foreign policy, Sub-Saharan Africa, human rights, corruption, HIV/AIDS.

Currently, Gavin is active in issues related to Zimbabwe and is sought out for policy advisement. She wrote the Council Special Report, "Planning for Post-Mugabe Zimbabwe."

Expertise in youth issues lead Gavin to a position as an international affairs fellow for the Council on Foreign Relations, examining the implications for U.S. policy toward the youth bulge in the developing world.

Other positions include legislative director to U.S. Senator Ken Salazar (D-CO), and spent six years as the primary foreign policy adviser to Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI), where her work included the creation of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction and the reform of U.S. policy relating to HIV/AIDS treatment abroad.

She also taught a course at the U.S. Naval Academy in preparation for the institution's Foreign Affairs Conference.

Gavin has also served as the staff director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's Subcommittee on African Affairs and as a member of the Board of Directors of the TRACE Institute, a non-profit organization researches and advocates for effective ways to end corruption.

AllAfrica stories: Kenya: Country Seen as Anchor to U.S. Position in the Region, 8 January 2008

Further Viewing: Michelle Gavin on Charlie Rose discussing the Zimbabwean Election

Further Reading: Gavin's testimony before the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s Subcommittee on African Affairs “The Crisis in Zimbabwe and Prospects for Resolution” July 15, 2008 .

Gavin studied at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service before going abroad to Oxford where she earned her MPhil as a Rhodes scholar.
She also taught a course at the U.S. Naval Academy in preparation for the institution's Foreign Affairs Conference.