Michelle Bernard is an American journalist, political analyst, author, and President and CEO of the Bernard Center for Women. She was formerly President and CEO of Independent Women's Forum and Independent Women's Voice. A frequent political and legal analyst on MSNBC and other television networks, Bernard has spoken on topics as varied as the historic 2008 presidential campaign and election, education reform, energy policy and security, foreign policy and national security issues, the war in Iraq, and the human rights of women and ethnic and religious minorities in the Middle East.

As the chairman, founder, president and CEO of the Bernard Center for Women, Politics & Public Policy, Bernard's mission is to fundamentally change the terms of the nation's most critical domestic and foreign policy debates and challenge the American public, policymakers, and the media to discuss those issues.

Bernard appears regularly on various television programs, including Hardball with Chris Matthews, The Daily Run Down with Chuck Todd, The Dylan Ratigan Group, and The McLaughlin Group. She is a regular guest commentator on National Public Radio's All Things Considered and Tell Me More with Michel Martin and is a contributor for The Hill's Pundits Blog and The Washington Post's She the People, a forum for women writing on politics, culture and the news.

Bernard is the author of Women's Progress: How Women Are Wealthier, Healthier and More Independent Than Ever Before and is a contributing author to the National Urban League's State of Black America and Lifetime Network's Secrets of Powerful Women: 25 Successful American Politicians Tell How They Got Where They Are – And What It's Like.

In 2009, Bernard created, co-produced and hosted MSNBC's historic television program, About Our Children, featuring Bill Cosby. The program, which explored poverty and education reform, aired on MSNBC on September 20, 2009. She is also a director of the American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence, Hampton University, and the National Women's History Museum.

Bernard has been featured in several publications, including Fast Company magazine, Essence.com, The Washington Business Journal, The Washington Post, The Washington Post Sunday Magazine and The Washington Times.

Prior to founding the Bernard Center for Women, Politics & Public Policy and joining IWF, Bernard had a short stint with the 2000 Bush-Cheney Presidential Inaugural Committee, Inc. and was a partner at the District of Columbia's Patton Boggs LLP.

Bernard holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy and political science from Howard University and a Juris Doctor degree from The Georgetown University Law Center.