Board Spotlight: Michelle Schafer, Partner & Senior Vice President, WWPR WoY Board Chair
Michelle Schafer heads up Merritt Group’s AI and Security Practice Groups, where she applies over two decades of hands-on PR-related experience spanning every discipline. She is known for creating and implementing strategic communications campaigns that drive results for clients such as IOActive, ISC2, CrowdStrike, Tenable, Fortify Software, and SentinelOne. Michelle provides strategy and positioning guidance to her clients as well as execution on PR and social media programs. Michelle has inserted her clients into major publications such as Time, Fortune, USA Today, Fox News, MSNBC, and more. Michelle has presented at NVTC, Women in Technology (WIT), CyberMarketingCon, RVASec, Security B-Sides Las Vegas/DC, MACH37, and ISSA events, and is recognized as a top influencer in the B2B technology community.
Tell me about your background and what drew you to your current position. I've always had a love for communications and PR - it's what I studied at George Mason University, and my passion became reality during my college internships at Edelman and Stackig PR. I also graduated at a time when there was a massive tech bubble - cell phones and the Internet had changed the world, and I knew I wanted to immerse myself in the excitement of it all. After a few years doing in-house PR at telecom firms, I went over to the analyst world at Current Analysis and then landed at Merritt Group. Twenty-two years later, I'm still here and running our cybersecurity and AI practices.
What is the most exciting or rewarding project you’ve done recently or in your overall career? I wish I could pick just one moment, but I'd say being in cybersecurity PR and marketing for over 20 years and representing over 150 cyber brands has been very fulfilling. I've seen the market and community grow immensely, and I'm proud to say that I've played a role in helping to amplify many top influencers and cyber defenders. I owe a lot of my success in my career to the late Tim Wilson, Editor of DarkReading, who taught me that what we do really matters - we're making a difference. In fact, he and I joked a lot that we were "cyber defenders," and I'm happy to say that I'm carrying his vision forward today, as best I can, in a marketing and communications role.
What do you love about being a WWPR Board Member? Serving on the Board of WWPR has been a game-changer for me this year. I've enjoyed working with a powerful group of women who are influencing the next generation of communications professionals. As co-chair for the Woman of the Year event, I saw firsthand how the Board came together to execute on a beautiful celebration of our finalists and our community. We all worked so hard to pull off this event, and it was a huge team effort across the WWPR Board.
Is there any book you would recommend? I think reading Radical Candor by Kim Scott was a game-changer for me as a manager. The book isn’t about being harsh - it’s about the balance between caring personally and challenging directly. Too often in business, we fall into one of two traps: being ‘nice’ but unhelpful (ruinous empathy) or being brutally honest without empathy (obnoxious aggression). The power of Radical Candor is that it creates a culture where feedback is a gift - delivered with clarity and compassion. It’s not just a management style, it’s a framework for building trust while driving performance.
What do you do outside of work? I'm a 7-year breast cancer survivor, so I try to support the local communities as best I can - Lean on Me, StepSisters, Runway to the Cure, and the Loudoun Breast Health Network. Giving back is so important to the community that helped me through the toughest time in my life. I also love long walks at sunset, visiting the most beautiful beaches in the world, and spending time with my awesome son, Mason (properly named after my college, George Mason!).
