Megan Seibel
- Director and Co-Founder, Center for Cooperative Problem Solving (CCPS)
- Senior Extension Specialist
Mail Code 0343
Blacksburg, Virginia 24061
Dr. Megan Seibel is the inaugural director of the VALOR Program at Virginia Tech, which is dedicated to fostering leadership and capacity building for Virginia’s largest private industries. As an Extension Specialist, Dr. Seibel offers experiential program content around leadership best practices in education, workplace, and grassroots organizational settings and leads training content around facilitation and strategic planning. She promotes stakeholder development and advocacy as outcomes of decision-making and problem-solving leadership around complex issues.
Dr. Seibel is the Associate Director and Co-Founder for the Center for Cooperative Problem Solving (CCPS) at Virginia Tech and an Associate Fellow of the Occupational Research Centre in the U.K. Dr. Seibel utilizes the KAI with coaching of educational supervisors, practitioners, community leaders, and student organizations to enhance effectiveness in program and service delivery.
Between October 2016 and January 2018, Dr. Seibel took administrative leave from the university to serve as Deputy Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry in Governor McAuliffe’s administration, where she oversaw industry studies and development of proposed policy for the secretariat, while supporting food and health related initiatives. She is a graduate of the Virginia Executive Institute at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Her background and expertise in healthcare, career and technical education, and outreach educational programming invigorate her passion for community development and considering complex issues that incorporate all three of these paradigms. A co-author on numerous publications related to leadership and community programs, Dr. Seibel uses scholarship as a way to bring ideas to life through practical application.
Megan received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from James Madison University, her Master of Science in Career and Technical Education from Virginia Tech, and her Doctor of Philosophy in Agricultural and Extension Education from Virginia Tech.
Ph.D., Agricultural and Extension Education, 2012
Virginia Tech
M.S., Career and Technical Education, 2007
Virginia Tech
B.S.N., Nursing, 1996
James Madison University
Awards and Recognition
- Outstanding Research Paper, American Association for Agricultural Education (2018)
- Distinguished Team, Epsilon Sigma Phi Alpha Gamma Chapter (2018)
- Excellence in Teen Programming, VAE4-HA (2018)
- Leadership Alumni Award, Department of Agricultural, Leadership, and Community Education, Virginia Tech (2018)
- Fellow, Virginia Executive Institute, Virginia Commonwealth University (2017)
- Distinguished Innovative Practice Poster, Association of Leadership Educators (2016)
- Eisenhower Fellow, Agriculture, USA Alternate Fellow (2015)
- Nominee, 100 Fresh Perspectives, National Farm Credit Foundation (2015)
- Farm Mom of the Year, Southeast Region, America’s Farmers (2015)
- Outstanding Post-Secondary Adult Program (VALOR), National Association of Agricultural Education (2015)
- Outstanding Post-Secondary Adult Program (VALOR), Virginia Association of Agricultural Education (2015)
- Outstanding Practice Paper, International Leadership Association (2013).
- Honorary American FFA Degree (2013)
- Outstanding Dissertation, Department of Agricultural and Extension Education, Virginia Tech (2013)
- Warren Beach Award for Exemplary Lifetime service to Young Farmers (2012)
Administrative Positions
- Director, VALOR
- Associate Director, Center for Cooperative Problem Solving
- Extension Specialist, Leadership and Decision Making
Professional Affiliations
- 21st Century Community Learning Centers – VCE project coordinator
- Facilitation course series – VCE project coordinator
- 3rd party facilitator for state, regional, and national stakeholder partners’ strategic formation and planning efforts
- Associate Fellow, Occupational Research Centre
- Advanced KAI Practitioner and Certification Course instructor
Bush, S. A., Seibel, M., Corkins, C., Elliott-Engel, J. (2018). Evaluating the [statewide agricultural leadership program]: Blogs as a reflection process. Journal of Agricultural Education.
Price, T., Bush, S., Seibel, M., Grove, B., & Johnson, J. (In Press). Teen Excellence in Leadership Institute (TELI) Handbook. Blacksburg, VA: Virginia Cooperative Extension
Lovely, S., Bush, S. A., Amaral, J. R., Woodward, L., Shayo, A., Rudd, R., & Seibel, M. (2018). Community viability in a leadership living-learning community. Research paper presented at the Association of Leadership Educators Annual Conference, Chicago, IL.
Bush, S. A., Corkins, C., Seibel, M., Elliott-Engel, J. (2018). Evaluating the Virginia Agricultural Leaders Obtaining Results (VALOR) program: Blogs as a reflection process. Research paper at the Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists Meeting, Jacksonville, FL.
Wiley, S., Seibel, M., & Bush, S. (Accepted). Collective thinking for extension practice: a time and place for world café. Journal of Extension.
Walker, M., Barnes, D., Seibel, M., & Seibel, G.A. (2018). Facilitation series: Parliamentary procedure (VCE Publication No. AAEC-145NP). Blacksburg, VA: Virginia Cooperative Extension.
Bush, S., Grove, B., Johnson, J., Seibel, M., & Price, T. (In Review). Cultivating innovative teen leadership programming: Building evidence of impact. Journal of Leadership Education.
Burbaugh, B., Seibel, M., & Archibald, T. (2017). Using a participatory approach to investigate a leadership program’s theory of change. Journal of Leadership Education.
Bush, S., Grove, B., Johnson, J., Seibel, M., & Price, T. (2017, June). Cultivating innovative teen leadership programming: Building evidence of impact. Research paper for the Association of Leadership Educators Annual Conference. Charleston, South Carolina.
Friedel, C., Clegorne, N., Kaufman, E., Seibel, M., & Anderson, J. (2016). Connecting leadership with preferences toward adaption and innovation. Journal of Leadership Studies 10(1), 37-39. Doi:10.1002/jls.21437
Kaufman, E., Seibel, M, & Cletzer, D. (2016). Leadership programs, discourses, and participants’ true sense of self. Proceedings of the annual meeting of the Association of Leadership Educators, 474-488.
Seibel, M., & Woods-Wells, T. (2016). Food for Thought: the manifestation of an economic viability plan and place for authentic hands-on learning. Agricultural Education Magazine.
Bush, S., Wiley, S., Seibel, M., Cletzer, D., & Woods-Wells, T. (2016). 2016 National Health Outreach Pre-Conference: a final report to the Cooperative Extension’s ECOP Health Task Force. Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities.
Seibel, M., Grove, B., Bush, S., Johnson, J., & Price, T. (2016). Teen excellence in leadership institute (TELI): Successful integration of youth development models for engaged community leadership. Proceedings for the Association of Leadership Educators Annual Conference, Sacramento CA.
Grove, B., Johnson, J., Price, T., & Seibel, M. (2016). Establishment of the Teen Excellence in Leadership Institute (TELI). Proceedings of the NAE4-HA Conference.
Kaufman, E., Seibel, M., Burbaugh, B, & Cletzer, D. (2015). Exploring the role of leadership discourses in development programming (Abstract). Proceedings of the annual meeting of the International Leadership Association.
Kaufman, E., Seibel, M., Burbaugh, B, & Cletzer, D. (2015). The unseen role of leadership discourses in leadership development programming (Abstract). Proceedings of the annual meeting of the Association of Leadership Educators, 702-704.
Hanks, S., Kaufman, E., Friedel, C, Clegorne, N., Seibel, M., & Burbaugh, B. (2015). A model of leader development across the lifespan (VCE Publication No. ALCE-104P). Blacksburg, VA: Virginia Cooperative Extension.
Burbaugh, B., Seibel, M., & Kaufman, E. (2014, February). A framework to examine networking behavior and social capital formation in agricultural leadership development programs. Poster presented at the Southern Region Conference of the American Association for Agricultural Education, Dallas TX.
Seibel, M. & Rudd, R. (2014). Development of peer educators within paraprofessional community-based adult education models: an experiential learning perspective. Proceedings of the Adult Education Research Conference.
Seibel, M. (2013). Insights and initiatives related to workforce development in the Commonwealth: an anticipated action plan. Virginia Leadership Summit, University of Richmond.
Priest, K., Kaufman, E., Brunton, K., & Seibel, M. (2013). Appreciate Inquiry: a tool for organizational, programmatic, and project-focused change. Journal of Leadership Education, 12(1), 18-33.
Brunton, K. & Seibel, M. (2013). Infusing Appreciative Inquiry into programmatic planning and evaluation: a positive and strengths based framework. Proceedings of Association of Leadership Educators (ALE).
Hanks, S., Kaufman, E., Friedel, C., Clegorne, N., & Seibel, M. (2013). A model for leader development across the lifespan. Proceedings of the Association of Leadership Educators annual conference, 475-482.
Friedel, C. & Seibel, M. (2013). The paradox of structure: What is the appropriate amount of structure for course assignments with regard to students’ problem-solving styles? Proceedings of the North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture Conference.
Serving as the inaugural director of the Virginia Agriculture Leaders Obtaining Results (VALOR) Program provides an opportunity to utilize my formal background in experiential teaching and learning issues and adult education, and non-formal background in social community development and leadership to maximize opportunities in Virginia for developing the strong leaders and collaborative partnerships necessary for the optimal future of our agricultural industry. The variety of grants with which I have worked, coupled with research initiatives in formal and non-formal settings have resulted in building collaborative partnerships at multiple levels. This experience with stakeholders at both funding and delivery ends of the spectrum has contributed to the skills necessary for translational research and the essence of bringing organizational research to the public. Working with an advisory group and alumni offers an exciting opportunity to impact all aspects of the program and I particularly look forward to serving as a liaison between the college and industry. I am a member of a variety of private industry boards and organizations and look forward to continued opportunities to engage the strong networks in our commonwealth’s largest industry areas.
Program Website: www.valor.alce.vt.edu
Program Blog: www.valeadersor.com