Michelle Alves de Lima is a multimedia storyteller and strategic communications professional focused on strengthening public institutions through storytelling, systems thinking, and human-centered communication. A Brazilian journalist with more than 20 years of international experience, she works at the intersection of narrative, learning, and operational innovation, translating complex institutional work into accessible stories that foster collaboration, reflection, and action.

At the United Nations Department of Operational Support (DOS), Michelle leads multimedia and knowledge-sharing initiatives that shape how the organization captures and disseminates operational lessons learned. She is the co-creator and lead producer of UNTold: Behind the Scenes of UN Operations, a pioneering multimedia series that documents field-level innovation across peacekeeping and political missions and transforms it into global learning and institutional memory.

Michelle has led video productions across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Her reporting has been published in Brazil, the United States, the Czech Republic, and Switzerland, and she has developed videos, campaigns, and learning products on issues including climate change, urban resilience, innovation, gender equality, and sustainable development. Her work combines editorial storytelling with a strong visual and systems-oriented approach, with particular attention to how institutions learn, adapt, and preserve knowledge over time.

She is also the founder of Understory Lab, a narrative and design studio focused on institutional memory, creative documentation, and the hidden systems that support social
and environmental resilience.

Michelle holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Taubaté in Brazil and a master’s degree in Global Affairs from New York University. Her work is grounded in the belief that stories, when crafted with intention and clarity, can help institutions learn, connect, and evolve.