Rachel Carlson, MAT, M.S.

Rachel Carlson MAT, M.S. has a decade plus of experience merging the knowledge and skills from the fields of education, psychology, and contemplative practices. In 2007 she joined Teach for America, gaining a keen awareness of the existing deficits as well as the future possibilities in public education. Through her experience, she was sparked to explore creating more space and time for comprehensive human development and flourishing. 

To this end, Rachel’s roles have ranged from leading site-based programming to assessment and rehabilitation work in hospital settings; from designing curriculum around family and community engagement to authoring works on identity development, trauma-informed practices, and pre-service teacher training; from teaching Educational Psychology to Masters students to engaging with school communities regarding the integration of contemplative practices to bolster well-being; and from engaging qualitative and quantitative methodologies to better understand daily functioning among those with chronic illness to designing curriculum towards social-emotional development. 

In 2014, Rachel founded Neuro Doodling, an education consulting company with underpinnings in neuroscience, child development, brain-based movement, contemplative practices, and other evidence-based practices regarding the art and science of learning. In 2016, Rachel joined Transcend Education, in partnership with Valor Collegiate Academies, as the Lead Social-Emotional Curriculum Designer + Codifier, impacting leaders, educators, and students across the country through a curriculum rooted in the development of what it means to be human.

In the pursuit of a choice-filled life, Rachel founded Rachel M. F. Carlson Consulting, LLC. in 2018 and has had the privilege to work with The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Citizens of the World Charter School, nXu, among others. Rachel lives with her husband and toddler daughter in Madison, Wisconsin where she can be found homesteading, being outside, meditating, and seeking out ways to nurture her own sense of what it means to flourish.