Michelle Madaio (she/her) is an attorney with the Public Justice Center’s Health and Benefits Equity Project, which engages in advocacy, direct representation, and community education to protect and expand access to healthcare and safety net programs. Michelle values the wisdom and expertise of people who have experienced food and financial insecurity and enjoys collaborating to achieve economic justice on an individual and systemic level.
Prior to joining PJC in 2025, Michelle was Director of Economic Justice at the Homeless Persons Representation Project, where she represented hundreds of individuals and families in appeals to access Temporary Cash Assistance (TCA), Temporary Disability Assistance Program (TDAP), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and Medicaid. Partnering with families directly impacted by public benefits and housing insecurity, Michelle advocated for policy reforms to make Maryland’s public benefit programs easier to access, more equitable, and to end a few of the racist, oppressive, and punitive policies at the root of safety net programs.
Michelle began her legal career teaching as a Clinical Law Fellow with the University of Maryland Carey School of Law in the International and Comparative Law Clinic in Namibia, followed by the Health Care Delivery Clinic in Baltimore. Michelle received a J.D. from the University of Maryland Carey School of Law in 2011 and a B.A. from American University in 2005. Before attending law school, Michelle lived in Madrid, Spain, where she received a Fulbright grant to research Spain’s experience reintroducing jury trials in 1995.
Michelle enjoys being a mom, swimming, drinking matcha, and speaking Spanish.
Phone: (410) 625-9409, ext. 245
Email
she/her
