Dr. Micaela Herndon
Board Member
Dr. Micaela Herndon serves as Dallas College’s Project Director for the groundbreaking U.S. Economic Development Administration’s Good Job Challenge – Grow Biotech in North Texas Grant. Her role focuses on helping underserved communities gain access to living-wage jobs in biotechnology, a sector that is poised to grow exponentially with the need for additional highly skilled employees in North Texas, according to the latest labor market intelligence.
Before her current role, Dr. Herndon spent over 15 years in education with a focus on creating workforce development opportunities and leading students to thriving careers. Her work gives a voice to workforce advocacy and labor market research to provide companies, departments, and students with regional and national marketplace strategies to ensure a competitive advantage in the market, economic development, and learner analytics. Her experience includes leading over 100 million dollars in grant initiatives to increase economic development efforts.
As a child who faced socioeconomic barriers, Dr. Herndon is passionate about creating access to equitable and data-informed opportunities in education and future careers that allow people to grow beyond a livable wage and create an intergenerational wealth shift.
Dr. Herndon earned her Doctor of Education, Master of Business Administration, and Master of Education from Capella University. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communication from the University of Texas at Arlington. She has a certification in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion from the University of South Florida. She has a certificate in Women’s Entrepreneurship from Cornell University.
She is a two-time girl mom, vinyl record enthusiast, professional bookworm, and self-proclaimed taco connoisseur.