Announcing CLAVE Postdoctoral Fellow: Melanie Flores, Ed.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow to Examine Latina Graduate Student Experiences in HSIs to Uncover Best Practices to Support Them
The Centro de Excelencia at National Louis University serves as the hub for programs and initiatives that advance our work as a community and career focused Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI). The CLAVE Postdoctoral Fellowship program is a key activity of the Promoting Postbaccalaureate Opportunities for Hispanic Americans grant from the Hispanic-Serving Institutions Division of the Department of Education.
CLAVE is an acronym for “Colaborando con las Comunidades Latinx para AVanzar en Educación/
Collaborating with Latinx Communities to AdVance Education”.
The goal of the CLAVE Postdoctoral Fellowship Program, within the CLAVE Graduate Student Institute at National Louis University, is to build the talent pool of Latinx faculty at colleges and universities at both the national and local levels, particularly the metropolitan Chicago area. Successful candidates for the program are selected on the basis of scholarly promise and potential for research and/or community engagement pertaining to Latinx or other BIPOC groups in doctoral education. The program offers two tracks: Full appointment or Partial appointment (for scholar-practitioners who are working professionals).
The CLAVE Graduate Student Institute is extremely pleased to introduce the 2022-2023 CLAVE Postdoctoral Fellow: Dr. Melanie Flores-Fragoso.
Dr. Melanie Flores (she/ella) is the 2022-23 CLAVE Postdoctoral Fellow within the Centro de Excelencia at National Louis University. She earned her doctoral degree in Higher Education leadership at National Louis University, a Master’s degree from DePaul University, and a Bachelor’s degree from Northeastern Illinois University.
Dr. Flores is the first in her family to hold graduate degrees. From a young age she experienced microaggressions and inequities in education and was left to learn how to navigate the educational system on her own. Through the support of nonprofit organizations, Dr. Flores was able to attend college and obtain a rewarding role supporting marginalized students in post-secondary education readiness. There a passion was formed for equity in education.
Dr. Flores has over 15 years of experience working in education and grants. She has a passion for equity and program development and specializes in programs designed to prioritize marginalized populations. She is the Founder and Principal Consultant of Propel Consulting, LLC and supports nonprofits in program development and grant sourcing. Additionally, Melanie serves on the National Advisory Council of the Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement (HACE) with a mission to empower Latinx Leaders in career and professional development.
Her research areas include the Latina experience at Institutions and culturally relevant mentoring for graduate students. Dr. Flores is excited to continue CLAVE’s focus on diversifying U.S. graduate programs, with a focus on Latinx populations. Her own research centers on uncovering best practices to support Latinx graduate students at HSIs and she looks forward to working alongside inspiring faculty and higher education professionals. Dr. Flores currently serves as a faculty mentor for NLU doctoral students of color and supports them in their scholarly development.
The 2022-2023 CLAVE Postdoctoral Fellowship program
The Centro de Excelencia is now accepting applications for the 2022-2023 CLAVE Postdoctoral Fellowship program. For Full appointment, visit: https://jobs.nl.edu/postings/7650 For Partial appointment, visit https://jobs.nl.edu/postings/8079 Please direct questions to CLAVEfellowship@nl.edu.
