is a leadership facilitator, instructional designer, and equity practitioner with over 15 years in education, organization, and leadership development, specializing in stress + resilience frameworks, trauma-informed systems, and race-explicit adult learning.
She specializes in cohort-based adult learning that integrates anti-oppressive practice, systems analysis, and trauma-informed frameworks to strengthen leadership effectiveness and collective wellbeing.
Michelle Gaither
From the Classroom
to Leadership Development
Michelle's passion for education, human-centered design, and resiliency is rooted in her personal experiences as a classroom teacher. She first learned about trauma the way many teachers do—trial by fire. After 8 years of teaching in heavily trauma-impacted schools, she nearly burned out before discovering that trauma was directly impacting her students, her classroom, her coworkers, and their collective overall health.
Learning how student and teacher behavior is shaped by stress and trauma was eye-opening, startling, and ultimately life-changing. It broke her open. She had to shift her perspectives and practices, address her own trauma exposure, and wrestle with the unintentional impact she was having on students by not adopting trauma-informed standards. As she learned about the inequities impacting students and staff, she had to reckon with the reality of the education system as a whole and the harm being unintentionally perpetuated. This bittersweet transformation shaped everything that followed.
Impact & Approach
Michelle's grounded, relational facilitation style supports individuals, teams, and leaders to engage their work with clarity, courage, and collective responsibility.
She creates learning environments where adults can develop trauma-informed lenses while addressing the structural and relational conditions that either support or undermine wellbeing.
Education
& Training
Michelle holds a Master of Education in Curriculum & Instruction with dual endorsements in Teacher Leadership and Trauma & Resiliency in K-12 Schools, and is a trained Diversity, Equity and Inclusion facilitator.
Expertise
Cohort-based adult learning design
Supporting teams and leaders working in trauma-impacted settings
Facilitating conversations about race, identity, and systemic inequity
Team building and culture transformation
Supporting leaders in navigating conflict, repair, and accountability
Integrating trauma-informed practices into management and supervision