Michelle Ralston is a research assistant for domestic affairs at the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. Before joining the Forum, Michelle worked as an intern for the associate vice president for economic development, research, policy and planning at the University of North Carolina. She also participated in an honors program in Cape Town, South Africa, where she worked with Planned Parenthood of South Africa as an HIV/sex education facilitator. Michelle has a B.A. in both Women’s Studies and Public Policy, with a concentration on social policy, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.