Co-Founder & Director of Clinical & Cross-Cultural Training
Contact: mgardner@communitywi.com
Marilyn Gardner is CWI’s Director of Clinical and Cross-Cultural Training at Community Workforce Institute (CWI). In this role, she leads the development of the organization’s training programs focused on clinical practice, cultural responsiveness, and workforce development for professionals serving diverse communities.
Marilyn is a registered nurse, educator, and writer whose work focuses on strengthening the ability of organizations and professionals to communicate and work effectively across cultures. At Community Workforce Institute, she develops and facilitates training programs that support frontline professionals working in public health, behavioral health, education, and community-based services.
Marilyn grew up in Pakistan and has lived and worked in multiple regions of the world, including Pakistan, Egypt, the Kurdish Region of Iraq, and several states across the United States. These international experiences have shaped her understanding of how culture, language, and identity influence people’s interactions with health and human service systems.
She is the author of Between Worlds: Essays on Culture and Belonging and Worlds Apart: A Third Culture Kid’s Journey, works that explore cross-cultural identity and belonging. Her writing and training draw on these experiences to help professionals better understand the perspectives of immigrant and internationally mobile communities.
Marilyn also holds a Bachelor of Science in Health Care Administration, a graduate certificate in Health and Human Service Management from Suffolk University and is a certified cultural competency trainer and Mental Health First Aid instructor.
Marilyn gave birth to five children on three continents and loves her big, constantly expanding family. She loves her passport, her family, and her faith in reverse order. Her favorite activity is finding spaces in coffee shops around the world to write and observe life around her.