Our Team

Michelle Figlar is the Executive Director of the Birmingham Foundation, which serves south Pittsburgh neighbors. Its focus is on children from prenatal to eight years old and their families.

Before joining the Birmingham Foundation, Michelle served as the Vice President for Learning at The Heinz Endowments, overseeing the Endowments’ strategy that focuses on family and child well-being, holistic education, and community and workforce readiness. Michelle also served as Deputy Secretary of the Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL). Other leadership positions in her career include Executive Director of the Pittsburgh Association for the Education of Young Children (PAEYC), a program manager for the Office of Early Childhood in Cuyahoga County, OH, a Head Start Director in Chicago, IL, a preschool special education teacher, and a VISTA volunteer in Northern CA, where she developed curriculum and programming with family child care providers.

Michelle had the privilege of serving as a Head Start Fellow and spent time working with several national non-profit advocacy groups. Michelle is honored to have served as the co-chair of Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald’s Children’s Fund Community Working Group, a board member of Fred Rogers Productions, Grantmakers of Western PA, Sarah Heinz House, JADA House International, Allies for Children, and a trustee for Milton Hershey School.

Michelle earned an M.Ed. from Kent State University in Early Childhood Special Education and an Ed.D. from Vanderbilt University in Leading and Learning in Organizations at Peabody College. Michelle’s greatest joy is her family, who reside in Pittsburgh with her husband, Greg Quinlan. She is the proud parent of Grady, a first-year student at Penn State University, and Tilly, a junior at Allderdice High School in Pittsburgh.