Liya Escalera

Liya Escalera is a lecturer on education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE). With more than 20 years of experience in higher education, she is passionate about creating vibrant, inclusive, and equitable learning environments where all students can succeed and contribute meaningfully to their local and global communities. Her work is grounded in strategic thinking, planning and implementation toward effectively advancing access and equity in higher education. She focuses on the design and assessment of asset-based learning environments that value the strengths and ways of knowing of diverse students, faculty, staff, and community members.  

Before coming to HGSE, Escalera spent fifteen years as a senior level administrator in the two largest public institutions in the city of Boston. She served as vice provost for Student Access, Equity and Success (SEAS) at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and as dean of Behavioral, Social Sciences and Global Learning at Bunker Hill Community College. She has been nationally recognized for leading transformational campus-wide initiatives, and in 2015, she received the Massachusetts Commonwealth Citation for Outstanding Performance. 

Her current research and writing focus on policies, practices, and pedagogies that align with the epistemologies and cultural wealth of Latinx communities. She holds a B.A in English and Spanish from Stonehill College, a M.A. in English from Simmons College, an Ed.M. in higher education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a Ph.D. in higher education from University of Massachusetts Boston.