2019 MLA Annual Conference

Our libraries are very diverse. Whether you work across international borders or interact with diversity closer to home, we deal with uniqueness and differences. Culture matters in how we market ourselves, how we market to our patrons, and ultimately can make the difference between whether you thrive or flounder when faced with an intercultural situation. Cultural intelligence is a form of intelligence that draws upon the ability to reformulate one's concept of self and others. It can be integrated with other forms of intelligence and applies to any cultural context (i.e., diversity initiatives, organizational culture, generational culture, gender culture, etc.). In this session learn how we can use cultural intelligence in order to ensure our biases and interactions do not influence judgments about others, as this directly affects a library’s inclusive work environment and the strength of the organizational culture.

Feature Speaker:
Dr. Michele A. L. Villagran is an accomplished educator, innovative speaker, entrepreneur, consultant, cultural intelligence and diversity & inclusion expert with over 25 years of experience in the public and private sectors. Dr. Villagran serves as CEO of CulturalCo, LLC consulting in areas of cultural competency, diversity & inclusion, conflict resolution, and emotional intelligence. She is also an assistant profession with San José State University School of Information where her research focuses on diversity and social justice in library and information science and cultural intelligence phenomena within libraries. Dr. Villagran is an advanced certified cultural intelligence and unconscious bias facilitator through the Cultural Intelligence Center, and Conflicts Dynamic Profile consultant. She earned her Doctorate of Education in Organizational Leadership, her Masters of Dispute Resolution and Certificate of Dispute Resolution from Pepperdine University. At the University of North Texas, Dr. Villagran completed her M.L.S. degree in Legal Informatics and her M.B.A. in Strategic Management.