Meet our team
Heather L. Walter, Ed.D, Founder and Managing Principal
Dr. Heather Walter is an Assistant Professor of Special Education and Senior Scholar for the Center for the Advancement of Wellbeing at George Mason University. Her expertise builds upon more than 15 years cultivating the unique strengths of individuals and communities in diverse educational settings by partnering and providing support in the recruitment and retention of highly qualified educators, as well as the wellbeing and sustainability of educational systems. Heather’s work centers around the success and wellbeing of adults who care for and educate children and youth. She does this by promoting equitable, evidence-based decisions that lead to meaningful, actionable, purposeful, and sustainable educational outcomes.
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Partnering in Federally Funded Research Projects such as Office of Special Education Research
Writing in Premier Journal Publications such as Early Childhood Research Quarterly, National Academy of Medicine, and The Journal of Organizational Psychology
Contributing to Local, Regional, and National Committees such as the Division of Early Childhood Personnel Preparation Committee, and the George Mason Mental Health Task Force
Leading as the Chair of a Non-Profit School Board in Maryland
Winning Research Awards such as the 2021 Dissertation Award in Mixed Methods for the American Educational Research Association (AERA); the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) for contributions to policy research; and the DC Public Health Challenge, Best Interdisciplinary Approach
Winning Leadership and Teaching Awards as an exchange Leader Award through the Exchange Leadership Initiative in 2022; Most Influential in Inspiring Career Paths at UMBC; Thank a Teacher, The Sterns Center for Teaching and Learning at GMU
Writing First Co-Authored Book: Using Data-Based Processes to Create Sustainable Systems Change: A Step-by-Step Guide for Leaders in Education
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Administrators Licensure II Certification
Leading Thriving Organizations Certification, George Mason University
Mental Health CPR Certified
Ella Cooper, Social Media Manager
Ella Cooper is the Social Media Manager for Map Your Ed Consulting. A full-time student at the University of Maryland, she studies communication, with a minor in nonprofit leadership & social innovation. She is also pursuing a graduate degree in Management Studies through the Robert H. Smith School of Business. Ella serves as a consultant at UMD’s Oral Communication Center and an ambassador for the Do Good Institute, as well as a freelance editor.
Expert Collaborators
We contract with experts to support your holistic needs in systems change
Christan Coogle, Ph.D., BCBA-D
Nelson Brunsting, Ph.D.
Our moral compass
Leveraging perspectives
Our community is built on activating interdisciplinary perspectives and the idea that individuals as a collective bring forth the realization of goals and sustained outcomes.
Modeling kindness
Our community aims to model kindness and care when engaging with complex educational challenges and remediating the opportunities and structures made available to educational systems, communities, families, and students.
Creating innovation
Our community invites a broad range of evidence-based, and interdisciplinary strategies to seek understanding and create a culture of innovation.