Michelle Ward-Gilles

Michelle (she/her) is an educator, curriculum writer, trainer, storyteller, and advocate, with extensive experience in teaching, program management, and volunteer training. Michelle has a background as an elementary school teacher and curriculum writer and holds a Master of Education degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education along with bachelor’s degrees in Journalism and Political Science from the University of Missouri. She joined the NAMI Mass staff in 2018 and is also a speaker for several of our education programs. Her passion for mental health education comes from experiencing her own mental health challenges and from supporting others navigating mental health issues. Outside of work, Michelle enjoys cooking and is always looking for new recipes to try. She also loves traveling, hiking and camping with her husband, and reading a good novel!

Education

• Bachelor's degree University of Missouri-Columbia (2008 — 2012)
• Bachelor of Arts (BA) University of Missouri-Columbia (2008 — 2012)
• High School Diploma Edward S. Marcus High School (2004 — 2008)

Companies

• Division Director of Community Education & Outreach NAMI Massachusetts (2021)
• Assistant Director of Community Education & Training NAMI Massachusetts (2019 — 2021)
• Program Director NAMI Massachusetts (2019 — 2019)
• Program Coordinator NAMI Massachusetts (2018 — 2019)
• Leadership for Educational Equity Policy and Advocacy Fellow NAMI Massachusetts (2018 — 2018)
• Graduate Research Assistant at the Education Redesign Lab Harvard University Graduate School of Education (2018 — 2018)
• Writing and Social Media Specialist Stages Learning Materials (2018 — 2018)
• Career Services Graduate Assistant Harvard University Graduate School of Design (2018 — 2018)
• Graduate Policy Researcher MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (2017 — 2017)

Skills

The most important

• Team Leadership
• Social Networking
• Public Speaking

Other

Online Journalism, Teaching, Blogging, Writing, Editing, Facebook, Journalism, Social Media