Office Hours with John Gardner
We are searching for big ideas that inspire hope and action in higher education around institutional transformation and innovation to advance student success and more equitable student outcomes. Joining John Gardner are higher education leaders and other relevant persons of interest who will discuss innovation and strategies that improve higher education.The Gardner Institute, a 24-year-old non-profit, has been at the forefront of innovation in higher education; our mission very clearly connects us to the broader societal efforts to increase social justice.The Gardner Institute connects with thousands of professionals in the higher education ecosystem; through a wide array of activities such as Transformative Conversations, the Teaching and Learning Academy, and the Socially Just Design Series, and through our work as an Intermediary for Scale supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. As a leader in the student success movement in higher education, we strive to provide support for institutions interested in social justice and institutional transformation.
Office Hours with John Gardner
Michael Benitez- Using Your Influence
Michael Benitez, Ph.D. is a nationally acclaimed educator in the field of diversity, equity, and inclusion in higher education, often called upon by colleges and universities, community organizations and corporations nationwide for his deep knowledge and practice of innovate equity and inclusion-based strategies and approaches to address some of higher education’s most pressing diversity, equity, and inclusion issues and challenges.
Over the past two decades, Benitez has served higher education in different capacities, including academic and student affairs; diversity, equity and inclusion; and teaching. He brings deep knowledge and experience working in and leading areas in student success, organizational leadership and culture, intercultural development, race and ethnicity, policy and practice, inclusive leadership and pedagogy, and institutional equity, and has authored book chapters and articles on identity development, cultural centers and ethnic studies, hip hop culture, institutional research and campus climates, and faculty development. Dr. Benitez has been featured in educational documentaries, contributed to online magazines, scholarly databases, books, and peer reviewed journals, is often invited by media outlets to conversations on issues of significance, and collaborates with leading national scholars and practitioners.
Dr. Benitez has assumed roles at several institutions throughout his career, including Penn State University, Dickinson College, Lafayette College, Grinnell College, and the University of Puget Sound. He completed both his B.S. and M.Ed. at the Pennsylvania State University (PSU), where he gained interest in pursuing doctoral studies as a TRIO student and McNair Scholar, his Ph.D. at Iowa State University, and has been recognized with multiple leadership and scholarly awards throughout his career, including the Iowa State University College of Human Sciences Alumni Achievement Award.
Dr. Benitez joined MSU Denver in 2019 as vice president for Diversity and Inclusion, where he also serves as an Associate Professor of Multicultural Education the School of Education. Dr. Benitez also serves on the Board of Directors for the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher
Education (NADOHE), is highly engaged with the National Conference on race and Ethnicity (NCORE) and serves as a subject matter expert for Colorado Inclusive Economy (CIE).
