Michele Schimpp

Michele Schimpp is the Deputy Associate Administrator for the Office of Investment and Innovation where with the Associate Administrator, she is responsible for leading the Agency’s investment and innovation programs to provide the high-growth U.S. small business community with access to capital and R&D funding.  Ms. Schimpp will oversee a portfolio of SBA public-private partnerships and programs that generate billions of dollars for U.S. small businesses each year, including Small Business Investment Companies (SBICs), Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) awards, as well as the Growth Accelerator Fund Competition and the Federal and State Technology (FAST) Partnership Program.

Ms. Schimpp has extensive experience managing U.S. Government organizations and start-up operations related to job creation, competitiveness, and economic growth.  Since 2019 Michele Schimpp served as the Deputy Associate Administrator for the Office of International Trade, during which she was Acting Associate Administrator for over a year.  In both capacities, she was responsible for helping U.S. small businesses to grow by reaching new customers in the global marketplace, 95% of which live outside of the United States.  Upon joining the SBA in 2015, she first served as Deputy Associate Administrator of OII, followed by an appointment to the Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Civil Rights as Assistant Administrator. Prior to SBA, she served with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the U.S. State Department, and the U.S. House of Representatives where she led programs and partnerships with the private sector, foundations, universities, federal and state agencies, as well as foreign legislatures and governments.

Schimpp has a M.A. in Latin American Studies from the University of California at Berkeley and a B.A. in International Affairs from George Washington University.