Michelle Garred, PhD.

With two decades of experience spanning 35 countries, Michelle is a skilled facilitator of collaborative learning processes, known for her expertise in the roles of faith and identity in social change. A former senior staffer at World Vision International and CDA Collaborative Learning Projects, she holds a PhD in Peace Studies from the Lancaster University Department of Politics, Philosophy and Religion. Her influential publications include Making Peace with Faith: The Challenges of Religion and Peacebuilding (co-curated with Mohammed Abu-Nimer) and the “Outcome Harvesting plus Attitude Change Toolkit” (co-authored with Malaka Refai). Her working languages are English and Spanish.

Michelle helps partners to maximize the impact of their programs, whether they involve advocating for social justice, bridging relational gaps, or facilitating collaborative problem-solving. The aim is to enhance the contribution of these programs to positive social change so that diverse, multicultural communities can flourish. Recent projects have focused on supporting cultural and religious pluralism programs across the USA and Canada.

Intergroup relations have been Michelle’s lifelong vocation, with early roots in cross-cultural training, second language education, and faith-based services in the USA and México. She has facilitated multi-ethnic peace councils in northern Kosovo/a, and led peace and justice mainstreaming in contexts of ethnoreligious conflict across South and Southeast Asia. Michelle’s innovations have improved practice by shifting power, engaging faith actors in action research to contextualize their own tools, centering marginalized voices in participatory macro-analysis and planning, and advancing the faith- and culturally-responsive evaluation of interreligious action programs. She serves on the Board at Peace Catalyst International and the evaluation hub leadership team at the Joint Learning Initiative on Faith and Local Communities.

After years as a global nomad, Michelle is now based in metro Seattle, on Coast Salish territory, near the lands stolen from her Duwamish, Suquamish, Puyallup and Muckleshoot neighbors. She is a local immigration rights accompanier and advocate focusing on the reform of detention policies and practices. As a white US American woman with a non-visible disability, her learning and unlearning about privilege are currently anchored within this space. She posts periodic reflections on personalized aspects of justice and peace at michellegarred.net.