Michelle Shields is Principal Advisor for Organisational Development with Airways New Zealand.  Prior to joining Airways she worked with AgResearch, a New Zealand Crown Research Institute.  As part of her work, Michelle develops leadership and cultural change programmes designed to build high performance teams and enhance collaborative stakeholder relationships. 

Michelle has over 20 years’ experience in human resource development with specialisation in group model building for learning.  Before taking up permanent residency in New Zealand in 2002, Michelle worked as a consultant with several North American companies including IBM, Nortel Networks and Bell Northern Research.

She holds an MS degree in Organisational Development and Behaviour from Eastern Michigan University and a PhD in Psychology from North Carolina State University. Her research focuses on the use of Systems Thinking tools and methodologies to enhance understanding of organisational performance.