Biography

Miguel A. Guajardo is an Associate Professor in the Education and Community Leadership Program and a member of the doctoral faculty in School Improvement at Texas State University-San Marcos. He joined the Texas State University-San Marcos in 2004. His research interests include issues of community building, community youth development, leadership development, race and ethnicity, university and community partnerships, and Latino youth and families. He was a Fellow with the Kellogg International Leadership Program and the Salzburg Seminar. He is also a co-founder and the chairman of the board of directors of the Llano Grande Center for Research and Development an education and community youth development organization in South Texas (http://www.llanogrande.org/). He is also the co-founder of the Community Learning Exchange an emerging interdisciplinary community of practice that connects the wisdom of people and the power of place to advocate and work towards community change (communitylearningexchange.org). Dr. Guajardo’s work has been informed by the local ecology and the values of equity, dignity, and democracy in cross-cultural settings. He has traveled to five continents and has engaged in conversations with indigenous leaders, teachers, and citizens on issues of education, development, citizenship and identity formation. His teaching, research and service agenda is grounded in a micro-macro integrative theory that is informed by practice. His work and life long commitment to Latino youth and communities informs his research and community development agenda. The work with the Llano Grande Center in South Texas has yield a number of innovative and effective strategies for educating Latino youth and families and has received national recognition. Dr. Guajardo earned a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from the University of Texas-Austin with an emphasis on the Politics and Policy of education.