National Advisory Board

Liya Escalera

Board Member

Dr. Liya Escalera is Vice Provost for Academic Support Services at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. She brings more than 17 years of experience in public, urban higher education in community college and university settings.  Liya is passionate about creating vibrant, inclusive, and equitable learning environments where all students can succeed and contribute meaningfully to their local and global communities.  In her work, she focuses on developing partnerships that can transform educational systems that were not designed to support the success of underrepresented students into asset-based spaces that value the strengths and ways of knowing of students, faculty, staff, and community members.  Her current research focuses on policies, pedagogies and practices that value the cultural wealth of Latinx students. Dr. Escalera holds an M.A. in English from Simmons College, an Ed.M. in Higher Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a Ph.D. in Higher Education from UMass Boston.