Dr. Louise Michelle Vital was born and raised in the Greater Boston area. Her positionality as a first-generation American and daughter of Haitian immigrants has largely shaped how she views and understands the world. Through her research, she seeks to unpack challenges in marginalized communities and discover how higher education can be used as a tool for addressing those challenges. She has conducted research examining the role of NGOs in the Haitian higher education system and remotely led a team in Kenya that partnered with two secondary schools to introduce new educational technologies there. Additionally, she is the Senior Instructional Adviser for The Global Citizens' Initiative online course Fundamentals of Global Citizen Leadership for international development professionals across the globe. Dr. Vital is a member of national and international professional organizations related to higher and international education and she serves as a member of the Board of Reviewers for the Journal for the Study of Postsecondary and Tertiary Education, Journal of Doctoral Studies, and as an ad hoc reviewer for the Journal of Studies in International Education. Her doctoral work included a specialization in Latin American and Caribbean Studies and a Graduate Certificate in International Development. Most recently, she was a Visiting Scholar at the Center for International Higher Education at Boston College.