Michelle Alvarez is a tenured full professor of social work at Minnesota State Mankato. She has a master’s in social work from the University of Maryland and a doctorate of education in higher education from Nova Southeastern University. Alvarez has been a leader in the field of school social work as current president of the board of the School Social Work Association of America  and associate editor of Children & Schools. She has published more than 40 articles and books in the area of school social work and has presented across the US, in Singapore, and in New Zealand. She completed the HERS leadership training program for women interested in higher education administration at Wellesley College, and is making the transition to senior leadership as an ACE Fellow at SNHU.