Michele Marshall, Profiled by Influential Women, Bridges Technology and Human-Centered Service in NYC Parks Leadership

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, October 6, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — With a Career Spanning Customer Service, Information Technology, Public-Sector Leadership, and Communications, Michele Continues to Champion a People-First Approach to Technology and Professional Growth

New York, New York – Michele Marshall is a customer service leader, technology professional, author, speaker, and communications trainer whose 13-year career with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation reflects a commitment to helping people feel supported, respected, and empowered. As Director of ITT Customer Engagement, she brings together her technical knowledge and longstanding passion for customer service to help create positive experiences for the people who rely on technology and organizational support.

Michele’s career in customer service began much earlier than her work in technology. She started working in customer service at the age of 16, developing an understanding of the importance of making people feel seen, heard, and comfortable. Those early experiences became an important foundation for the way she would approach both professional relationships and technical support throughout her career.

Her introduction to information technology was unexpected. While working at a Citibank call center, Michele volunteered to take over productivity reporting while a colleague was away. When the computer assigned to her crashed on her first use, she taught herself how to fix it rather than risk letting her team down. What could have been a frustrating obstacle instead became the beginning of a lifelong interest in technology and problem-solving.

That experience revealed a natural inclination toward understanding how systems work and finding practical solutions. Michele continued developing her expertise in the banking industry, including through her work at Comerica Bank, where she received networking and systems training. Michele then progressed to SunTrust Bank as a desktop support technician. These opportunities established an important technical foundation and eventually opened the door to a career that would combine information technology with the customer-service principles she had developed from an early age.

In 2013, Michele joined the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation as an IT Field Technician. Her career within the organization progressed through a series of leadership roles, ultimately leading to her current position as Director of ITT Customer Engagement. Throughout that progression, she maintained a consistent focus on the human element of technology.

For Michele, effective technology support involves more than resolving a technical problem. It also means understanding the person experiencing the problem and making sure that individual feels respected and heard throughout the process. She became an advocate for end users, identifying opportunities for improvement and supporting solutions designed to enhance the overall customer experience.

This people-first philosophy is closely connected to Michele’s upbringing. As the youngest of four siblings, with her siblings ranging from seven to 15 years older, she was practically an only child. Her mother was a single parent who worked hard to keep the family afloat and placed significant responsibility on Michele, describing her as the man of the house, so to speak.

Michele responded by taking responsibility for what needed to be done. She would repair whatever needed fixing and made it her objective to help her mother in any way she could. Looking back, she sees that experience as one of the factors that shaped her passion for customer service. Helping her mother taught her the importance of paying attention to the needs of others and doing what she could to make difficult circumstances easier.

The same principles continue to influence her professional leadership. Michele believes that people want to feel seen, heard, and comfortable where they are, and she has carried that understanding into her approach to technology and customer engagement.

Her professional philosophy has also been shaped by the mentors and examples she encountered throughout her life. From her mother, she learned hard work, resilience, sacrifice, and leading with love. Her professional mentors encouraged her to believe in her potential even when she could not yet see it herself. They taught her to take pride in her work, pay attention to details, leave things better than she found them, remain accountable, support others, communicate transparently, and stay open to opportunities that might initially appear beyond her reach.

Those lessons have contributed to Michele’s belief in continuous learning. She encourages professionals not to limit their own growth and to approach challenges with confidence. For her, leadership is connected to service, integrity, accountability, and helping other people succeed.

Michele is particularly passionate about encouraging young women entering technology. Early in her own career, she believed she had to adopt a very masculine persona and become one of the guys in order to be accepted. She eventually realized that this approach was unnecessary and could lead to a misunderstanding of her own worth and contributions.

Today, she encourages women to hold onto their femininity while developing the knowledge, courage, and confidence needed to succeed in a predominantly male-focused industry. She emphasizes the importance of having a thirst for learning, becoming a subject-matter expert, and developing specialized knowledge.

Technology is broad, and Michele recognizes that professionals may need to understand a wide range of applications and hardware. At the same time, she believes that finding a nuanced area of expertise and becoming a subject-matter expert can help professionals distinguish themselves.

She also encourages women to be courageous and respectful while remaining bold in asking questions and pursuing opportunities. In an industry where boldness can sometimes be confused with aggression, Michele believes women can demonstrate confidence in a nurturing way while remaining authentic to themselves.

The rapid evolution of technology represents another significant opportunity for Michele and the field as a whole. Automation and artificial intelligence are changing how technology is delivered and supported, and Michele sees these developments as opportunities to elevate the human side of technology rather than replace it.

As these technologies continue to evolve, she believes empathy, communication, and customer experience should remain central to the way services are delivered. She is particularly interested in helping shift customer service within IT away from a purely transactional function and toward a more consultative, relationship-driven approach built on trust, collaboration, and stronger outcomes for end users.

This perspective reflects the intersection of Michele’s technical and interpersonal strengths. As technology becomes increasingly complex, professionals who can combine technical expertise with communication and leadership skills have opportunities to make a meaningful difference. Michele sees continued potential for mentorship, specialization, professional development, and leadership within the industry.

Her commitment to customer service extends beyond her professional role. Michele is the author of Happy to Help: The Lost Art of Customer Service, a work centered around four pillars that she also applies to her own life: patience, understanding, respect, and experience.

For Michele, patience includes being patient with herself and allowing herself grace. Understanding begins with curiosity and a willingness to learn about the people around her. Respect means recognizing the value of others while also maintaining respect for herself and understanding when certain relationships may no longer be helpful.

She also believes in meeting people where they are and treating others well regardless of how they may have treated her. Through that approach, she hopes to demonstrate that people do not have to simply reflect the behavior they receive from others.

Experience represents another essential part of her philosophy. Michele believes in remaining open to life’s experiences, staying curious, seeking opportunities to learn, and not being afraid to make mistakes. Her own career reflects this mindset, from teaching herself how to repair a malfunctioning computer at a call center to developing technical expertise, progressing through leadership roles, and eventually becoming a director focused on customer engagement.

Her team’s receipt of the 2022 NYC Mayor’s Office Excellence in Customer Service Award stands as a significant reflection of that commitment. The recognition represents an approach to customer service that goes beyond simply completing a task. It reflects Michele’s focus on challenging conventional thinking, identifying opportunities to improve experiences, and creating an environment where employees and customers feel valued.

Alongside her leadership role, Michele continues to share her knowledge through her work as an author, TEDx speaker, and communications trainer. Across these different platforms, the same principles remain central: people matter, communication matters, and technology is most meaningful when it serves the people who use it.

With a career rooted in service and strengthened by technology, Michele Marshall continues to demonstrate how technical expertise and human connection can work together. Her journey from an early customer-service position to public-sector technology leadership reflects the value of curiosity, continuous learning, mentorship, resilience, and a willingness to solve problems when others are depending on you. Through her leadership, writing, speaking, and commitment to customer engagement, she remains focused on helping people feel supported while encouraging others to discover their own capacity to learn, lead, and contribute.

Learn More about Michele Marshall:

Through her Influential Women profile, https://influentialwomen.com/connect/michele-marshall or through her website, https://michelemarshall.com/

Influential Women

Influential Women provides a platform where women from all backgrounds can connect, share their perspectives, and create content that empowers themselves and others. Through storytelling, thought leadership, and creative expression, Influential Women amplifies voices that inspire change.

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Written By: EIN Presswire