Our Founder and President

As an innovator, visionary, and advocate Dr. Mary Riordan-Karlsson’s career spans thirty-five years in education and is Founder and CEO of Karlsson Consulting providing leadership consultation across multiple industries. She received her bachelor’s degree from Boston College and her masters and doctorate degrees from the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Mary is an author, curriculum developer, television host, ethnographer, design thinker, entrepreneur, university instructor, neurodiversity and accessibility specialist. She began her career teaching kindergarten in The South Bronx, NY, and has taught K-12 in the San Francisco Bay Area and Silicone Valley, and at the university level at UC Berkeley and ASU. Throughout her career, she has presented at multiple national and international conferences. She has authored many professional articles and books on literacy and instructional integration with technology, including “Buried Treasures in the Classroom” for the International Reading Association. Dr. Mary has served on advisory boards for various companies and non-profit entities including Hug Your Head Foundation – Learning to Live with TBI and Greasepaint Youtheatre. As a member of the ASU Family Leadership Council, she acts as a liaison with Student Accessibility and Inclusive Learning Services and teaches a class, Understanding the Brain, supporting neurodiversity in the classroom. Dr. Riordan-Karlsson served as a Professional Learning Services Director for McGraw Hill for over six years focusing on innovative cultural curriculum partnerships, accessibility, and personalized learning and authoring a new book on a parent’s perspective of learning to live with TBI. Dr. Riordan-Karlsson received the Outstanding Leadership Award at the Education 2.0 Conference in Las Vegas in July 2023 in recognition of her many accomplishments. Dr. Mary provided leadership consultation to the Kari Lake for US Senate 2024 campaign.