Dr. Michele A. L. Villagran (she/her/ella) is an accomplished educator, innovative speaker, entrepreneur, consultant, cultural intelligence and diversity & inclusion expert with over 25+ years of experience in the public and private sectors. As faculty, Dr. Villagran’s research focuses on diversity and social justice in library and information science and cultural intelligence phenomena within libraries. Her cultural interests have expanded to understanding how to manage conflicts utilizing both cultural and emotional intelligence along with a conflict toolkit. Dr. Villagran works with a diverse range of clients from industries including librarianship, education, legal, law enforcement, non-profit, and research providers.
Dr. Villagran earned her Doctorate of Education in Organizational Leadership with her dissertation focusing on cultural intelligence in 2015 with Pepperdine University. She also completed her Masters of Dispute Resolution and Certificate of Dispute Resolution with Pepperdine. At the University of North Texas, Dr. Villagran completed her M.L.S. degree in Legal Informatics and her M.B.A. in Strategic Management. She is an advanced certified cultural intelligence and unconscious bias facilitator through the Cultural Intelligence Center, and Conflicts Dynamic Profile consultant. She is involved with numerous associations in the fields of library and information science, conflict management and leadership.
Her specialties include cultural competence, diversity & inclusion, strategy, communication, implicit bias, conflict resolution, leadership, and managing emotions.