Michelle Guarino

Michelle Guarino is a Senior Lecturer and MSW Field Coordinator at the School of Social Work, North Carolina State University. She holds a BSW from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and an MSW from New York University, and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. Her career spans over 25 years in gang intervention, trauma, and criminal justice, with specialized expertise in forensic profiling and youth delinquency.

Michelle has served in leadership roles such as Director of Program Development for Gang Free NC, Crisis Intervention Team Supervisor at Chapel Hill Police Department, and Adjunct Professor at UNC Wilmington (12 years). She chairs the NC Center for Safer Schools’ Gang Prevention and Intervention Sub-Committee and has trained agencies nationally on gang dynamics and youth intervention.

Her research focuses on gang prevention, forensic social work, and the interplay between mental health and criminal behavior. Notable contributions include co-authoring Best Practices Manual: The Wilmington Youth Violence Intervention Program and contributing to the American Surgeon Journal. She has been recognized for her advocacy, including the 2012 Carolyn Moore Citizen Award and 2000 New Hanover County Human Relations Woman of the Year.