Karen L. Mapp, EdD, is a Professor of Practice at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE). Over the past twenty-five years, her research and practice focus has been the cultivation of partnerships among families, community members and educators that support student achievement and school improvement. Dr. Mapp holds a Doctorate and Master’s of Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, a Master’s in Education from Southern Connecticut State University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Trinity College in Hartford, CT.

From 2008 to 2022, Dr. Mapp served as the Faculty Director of the HGSE Education, Policy and Management (EPM) Master’s Program. She is a founding member of the District Leaders Network on Family and Community Engagement and serves on the boards of the National Association for Family, School, and Community Engagement (NAFSCE) and The Hyams Foundation (Boston).  From 2010 to 2023, she served as board member and six years as board chair of the Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL).

From 2011 to 2013, Dr. Mapp served as a consultant on family and community engagement to the United States Department of Education (USDOE) in the Office of Innovation and Improvement where, in collaboration with the USDOE, she developed the first version of the Dual Capacity-Building Framework for Family-School Partnerships.

Read more at gse.harvard.edu.