Michelle ryder-grebel - BIOGRAPHY

Michelle is a servant leadership expert who has over twenty years of experience leading and mentoring in the field of Corrections starting at a time that was mostly a male dominated field. A key specialization she holds are facility and programmatic start -ups to include Addiction and Behavioral Health, developing evidence- based programs for justice involved men and women.  One of her most significant implementations, and what she is most proud of, is her integral role in the development and establishment of a state of the art $7M South Texas Family Residential Center that provided a safe haven for women and children crossing the border from various countries.

Michelle has held several leadership positions that include Assistant Warden, Director, Vice President of Operations, and Executive Director within various platforms serving justice involved individuals.

During her leadership career, she developed a passion for learning and development and specifically mentoring those new front line leaders within the correctional setting. She became a Master Key Leader trainer for CORECIVIC, one of the leading private correctional companies in the United States.  Michelle also trained under Doctor Frank Porporino out of Canada and became a certified trainer for the first Cognitive based Reasoning and Rehabilitation Program and successfully implemented this program for both adults and juveniles.

She has been a member of the American Correctional Association (ACA) since the late 1990’s and during that time developed a further passion and purpose for presenting evidence- based strategies within her field to audiences from all over the country. She currently serves on the American Correctional Association Staff Wellness Committee and helped pioneer the development of Staff Wellness standardized policies and practices for correctional institutions nationwide.   She also was published in the American Correctional Association Corrections Today for a piece on Staff Wellness. This passion for Wellness led her to seek out further initiatives and was trained in Critical Incident Stress Management Responses within CORECIVIC, as well as Trauma Informed Care.  She believes in creating a healthy work culture that will transform lives by incorporating Gender Responsive and Trauma Informed/Responsive interventions. She continues to be an ambassador for all those who work with the justice involved population and has spoken and presented workshops and key note presentations for ACA, the Indiana Criminal Justice Association, and The Journey Together Substance Use Conference in Nashville TN.  She has also spoken and educated members at some local churches on the social issue of Human Trafficking Most recently she was involved in a National Global First Responder Resilience Summit that took place in October of 2021.