Founder and President, XplorGuru Inc.
Dr. Agarwal is an certified counselor, professional educator, advocate, resource consultant and trainer in the field of education, disability & technology for individuals, families, and organizations.
CERTIFICATION: National certification as a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC), # 00071985
Degree
Ed.D., The University of Texas, El Paso, TX (Title: Beyond accommodation: Perceptions of Students with Disabilities in Hispanic Serving Institution)
MA, Rehabilitation Counseling, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
MSW & BA (Psychology), University of Delhi, India
Experiences
2020: President & Founder, XplorGuru Inc., Fremont, CA
2019: Dean, Disability Resource Center & Veterans Resource Center, Foothill College
2018-19: Associate Director , Disability Resources, Santa Clara University
2008 - 2018: Assistant Director, Center for Accommodation and Support Services, UTEP
2004-2008: Project Coordinator, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA
2004-2004: Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor. O. Vocational Rehab, Philadelphia, PA
2002-2003: Graduate Assistant , U. Arizona, Tucson, AZ
1998-2001: Apollo Hospital (Health Counsel), New Delhi
Dr. Agarwal is an expert in the area of college transition planning for students with disabilities and health conditions. For over 20+ years, she assisted undergraduate, graduate, including nursing school students with disabilities and health conditions with the college accommodations process; provided one-on-one consultations to students experiencing academic & disability related or accessibility challenges. She has also scheduled and taught study skills workshops; and worked collaboratively with Residential Living to assist students with physical disabilities and health conditions who were seeking housing to meet their needs. While working with Freshmen, Dr. Agarwal discovered that many of the students she worked with had not received transition supports while in high school that could help them to prepare for the transition to college with a disability and/or health condition.
Dr. Agarwal is also passionate about combining social psychological insights with technology to improve social inclusion outcomes of people with disabilities and chronic health conditions. She believes that the 21st century advanced technology can provide powerful interventions toolkits to address the the complex psychological and mental health issues.
I am passionate about providing affordable mental health care and also developing novel toolkits to advance understandings as well as reduce the scale-up costs for chronic health mental issues affecting the populations. I bring 20+ years of practice and first hand experiences in advocating for and creating more positive atmosphere for social inclusion anywhere and everywhere. I am committed to addressing the barriers to access and excellence for students and people with disabilities in post-secondary education, employment and independent living. In my career, I have extensively supported and empowered individuals and students to find their place in a community that is welcoming and accessible to everyone and that celebrates their many differences. I took several first-of-its kind leadership initiatives for the sake of helping students and individuals with special-needs with their locate academic resources and explore effective time and stress management and alternative learning strategies . The list includes establishing a new organization, bringing national level experts, organizing awareness week/sports competition, and giving them voices through novel technologies to name a few. I could never be more proud as I have heard so many successful stories -- students completing their collegiate studies, winning accolades & leadership positions.
I am also a Certified Rehabilitation Counsellor (CRC) and bring extensive experience counseling and mentoring adolescents/adults with all disability types including psychological, health, and AD/HD as well as physical disabilities and cognitive disabilities.
I formed XplorGuru Inc to create scalable technology driven solutions for making significant impacts on the lives of people with disabilities and other chronic health conditions and veteran around the world. An estimated 60% of Americans have at least one chronic health condition ( heart disease, cancer, diabetes, etc.) and 40% of them have more than one and covid have exacerbated these conditions. At XplorGuru, we are passionate to help many many more people from vulnerable population who are unfairly at higher risks.
Foothill College, Los Altos, CA
As the Dean of the Disabled Student Services and Veterans Programs, I was responsible for organizing, administering, managing and evaluating comprehensive disabled student and Veteran’s services, programs and delivery systems for Foothill College students and ensuring that the college’s policies are in agreement with federal and State regulations. I supervised the facility, operations, counselors, full-time faculty, part-time instructors, administrative support staff, and other classified staff at the Adaptive Learning & Disability Services Center and the Veteran’s Center. I was also responsible for planning, developing, organizing, and directing the center that included developing and managing budgets, determining allocations, obtaining approvals and submitting required reports; analyzing and evaluating data for specific use; interpreting and applying rules, regulations, policies and procedures to comply with District, state and federal regulations; prioritizing workloads and conflicting demands for faculty and staff; applying and enforcing Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA); determining academic accommodations and support services for students with disabilities; and working with community agencies that serve people with disabilities and veterans.
