Search for a member of the faculty or staff

Leslie Navarro is a visionary higher education leader dedicated to advancing student success, wellness, and belonging at Lake Michigan College. As Director of Student Well-Being & Accessibility, Leslie provides strategic leadership for a wide range of services, including mental health counseling, accessibility support, basic needs programs, life coaching, and crisis management. Under her direction, these services support over 1,700 students annually.

Since joining LMC in 2019, Leslie has played a pivotal role in launching and expanding comprehensive mental health and wellness initiatives, creating the college’s first food pantry and snack shacks, developing student life coaching services, and leading campus-wide accessibility projects. She also founded the college’s Wrap Around Team, which proactively supports students at risk of leaving college.

A national leader in community college mental health, Leslie has served as a dedicated champion and trusted advisor to the Mental Health Improvement through Community Colleges (MHICC) initiative since 2021. She is a founding member of MHICC’s advisory board and has co-presented at national conferences to help advance mental health support for community college students across the country.

Leslie is actively engaged in numerous professional organizations and community boards, and she has authored multiple successful grants supporting mental health and basic needs initiatives. Under her leadership, LMC’s counseling and wellness services have consistently been recognized as leaders among Michigan community colleges, standing out for innovative programming, robust clinical capacity, and comprehensive support offerings for students.

She holds a Master of Social Work and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Grand Valley State University, with a minor in Women and Gender Studies.