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Rachel Monteverdi ’22PHD: ‘I Hope to be a Leader, Practitioner and Trail Blazer in Facilitating Impactful and Effective Leadership Development Programs’

Rachel Monteverdi

Rachel Monteverdi believes in the power of leadership, and at the NC State College of Education, she engaged in research that showed her the impact she can make in the field of leadership development.  

Now that she runs her own company and collaborates with other leadership consultants, she is able to take what she’s learned out into the world.

Learn more about Rachel Monteverdi

Hometown: Holly Springs, North Carolina

Degree: Ph.D. in the Educational Leadership, Policy and Human Development Adult and Lifelong Education concentration

Activities (Research or Extracurricular): Conducted research related to human development, leader development, leadership development, neuroscience of adult learning, diversity and inclusion, and high performing teams. 

Why did you choose the NC State College of Education?

In addition to being one of the best colleges in the United States, I chose the NC State College of Education because it gave me exactly what I needed. It provided a perfect balance of opportunity and support, challenge and compassion, theory and practice.   

Why did you choose your concentration?

For me, this degree was a bit of a miracle. I am the only Native American, Hispanic female I know with a Ph.D. My Native American great-grandmother was kidnapped from her Apache tribe. My grandmother did not have an education. She was pregnant with my mom and had two small children when her husband was killed. Grandma picked cotton to provide for her family. My mother married her high school sweetheart who joined the Marines. She raised five kids and moved all around the country as he got promoted. Mom always thought she would go to college eventually, but simply wasn’t able to fulfill that dream given her family obligations. This degree is for them – and for all those like them. It’s a lifetime dream – and education, leadership, policy and human development are all a part of that dream.  

A seemingly impossible dream is sometimes made possible by kind hearts willing to step up and offer support to those who need it. NC State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Professor Emeritus Gary Moore provided me the green light to move from my master’s degree to my Ph.D. [Associate Teaching Professor] Michelle Bartlett was my greatest influence and mentor with both my master’s and Ph.D. Without her encouragement, compassion and willingness to stay with me step by step, I never would have made it over the finish line. 

What was my primary concentration? Leadership. In my experience and from the research, we have a leadership problem globally. With only 13% of leadership development (LD) programs stating they have done a good job in LD, my passion is to be a part of the 13%. My research was the first of its kind to ask some of the most experienced leadership development experts three questions. In sum, the questions were: 1. How do you develop yourself? 2. How do you know others who have participated in your programs have developed? 3. What do you recommend new LD professionals do to develop themselves and others? As a former field faculty for NC State Extension, and as a professional who ran a training division for Duke University, I found myself leaning into becoming a part of the solution with leadership development. Now, as a consultant and executive coach, the findings from my dissertation will allow me to better serve my client partners.

What’s your next step? What do you have planned after graduation?

As a leadership development consultant and coach serving a wide variety of industries, I plan on amping up my efforts in implementing best practices based on my research. I also believe I have a responsibility to contribute to the literature. My findings blew me away. I hope they do the same for others like me who are seeking real world best practices in leadership development.   

How has the College of Education prepared you for that next step?

The College of Education taught me gold standards in evaluating training transfer, instructional design, leadership and many other subjects. My coursework at NC State allowed me to take my work-related projects and transform them into outstanding offerings; talk about real-world application! These courses were not only relevant to my field; they equipped me as I ran training and development in various regions in North Carolina as field faculty and at Duke University. Now that I run my own company and collaborate with other leadership consultants, I am able to take all that I’ve learned out into the world and I am positively impacting leaders at companies such as Shell International, GSK, Unilever and more. 

What do you hope to accomplish in your field?

I hope to be a leader, practitioner and trail blazer in facilitating impactful and effective leadership development programs. My programs challenge people to explore, discover, understand and transform. Each individual stretches to connect deeply in a holistic manner where we commit to the best of ourselves. We expand our humanity and create space for authentic and open dialogue. We focus on what’s right within ourselves and within others; what energizes, and how we use our innate talents and strengths. We also focus on the research-based behaviors of exemplary leadership to leverage our collective successes over time. We know what we stand for and why. I seek to reshape companies and shift cultures into becoming more purpose driven and high performing. 

Do you have a favorite memory from your time in the College of Education?

Above all, I thoroughly enjoyed the camaraderie and stimulating discussions from my classmates. Each brought a worldview that encouraged me to stretch and consider alternative viewpoints. 

Tell us about an experience you had with the College of Education that had the biggest impact on you or your career.

There’s nothing like being a practitioner and believer in quantitative research who is required to take a qualitative research class. To my surprise, my whole worldview changed. Within a very short time, I was interviewing people who were responding to questions with deep, rich, thought-provoking insights. Some were crying, emotional or angry. I never would have gleaned this level of understanding with a survey. If I had stayed on the statistical analysis side of things, I would not have realized the tremendous power of qualitative research. Thank you, Dr. Peter Hessling. For this, I will be forever grateful. Moving forward, I will continue to employ qualitative interviewing techniques for my executive clients. 

Why did you choose education?

Without a doubt, I come from humble beginnings. My family believed that education was the key to opening doors. For Native American and Hispanic females, education can open doors that will never be opened without it.