Michelle Benegas

Michelle Benegas, Ph.D., is an associate professor of TESOL in the School of Education and Leadership at Hamline University in Saint Paul, Minnesota. A former secondary English language/English language development teacher, she began her career in a newcomer high school and has also taught in adult basic education settings. She completed her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction – Second Languages and Cultures at the University of Minnesota in 2015.

Benegas is co-author of Language of Identity, Language of Access: Liberatory Learning for Multilingual Classrooms and Teacher Leadership for School‑Wide English Learning, and she co‑created the School Wide English Learning (SWEL) professional development series in collaboration with TESOL International Association. From 2016 to 2022, she served as principal investigator for the English Learners in the Mainstream (ELM) Project, a U.S. Department of Education National Professional Development initiative, and her work focuses on EL teacher leadership, teacher leader identity, and systemic approaches to improving services for multilingual learners.