Our Team
We are growing a team of heart-felt researchers and practitioners who relentlessly put students at the center.
We bring a wide range of expertise and practical experience as teachers, administrators, human service providers, coaches, and scholars. We partner with a broad network of other affiliates when needed to assemble a “just right” team to support our clients.
Meet the Team
Kendra Fehrer, PhD
Founder & Principal
Cristina Lash, PhD
Senior Associate
Mary Hofstedt, MA
Senior Associate
Kendra Fehrer, PhD
Founder & Principal
Kendra Fehrer is an educator, researcher, human services practitioner, and writer. She began her career as a scholar-activist working in Latin America, and has been involved in social justice and equity efforts ever since. She founded Heartwise Learning to support mission-driven organizations that want to better serve students' whole selves.
Prior to launching Heartwise Learning, Kendra was a Senior Research Associate at the John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities at Stanford University, where she led community -engaged research and collaborated with dozens of schools and youth-serving organizations to guide improvement efforts. She also served as Director of Research and Organizational Learning at the Community Schools Learning Exchange, where she coached district leaders in community school development and guided the organization’s internal improvement efforts. As an educator, Kendra has taught social science to high school and college students, developed outdoor education curriculum for school-aged youth, founded a nature-based preschool program, and facilitated bilingual student social-emotional support groups. Her research has been published widely, including in Education Week and Education Sciences, and by Rowman & Littlefield and Harvard Education Press. Kendra earned her PhD in Anthropology from Brown University and her BA and MA in International Development, Community, and Environment from Clark University.
As Founder and Principal at Heartwise Learning, Kendra collaboratively leads the team’s strategic direction, external relationships, and business development. In addition, she stewards project work in the areas of community schools, school-based mental health, newcomer supports, and family engagement and serves as an internal thought partner and collaborator to many other projects.
When not at work, you can find her reading a book, hanging out with her partner and two kids, nibbling on dark chocolate, letting the dog out, and daydreaming about her next camping trip.
Cristina Lash, PhD
Senior Associate
Cristina Lash is a Senior Associate at Heartwise Learning and an award-winning education researcher and coach. She is dedicated to working alongside educators and communities to co-create more equitable and just educational systems.
Before joining Heartwise, Cristina was a professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Nevada, Reno, where she taught aspiring and current school leaders about data-driven school improvement, equitable practices, and resource allocation. She is widely recognized for her expertise in building school structures and cultures that support the inclusion, academic engagement, and civic development of immigrant students, English Learners, and students of color.
During her time in Reno, Cristina was appointed to a state advisory committee, where she helped shape policies to support English Learners across Nevada. Her research on school inclusion, multicultural education, and civic development has been published in leading academic journals, including Teaching and Teacher Education, Theory & Research in Social Education, and Ethnic and Racial Studies.
Cristina’s work is grounded in both personal and hands-on experience. Her parents inspired her to proudly carry her Mexican immigrant heritage and to uplift Latinx and other historically underserved communities. Her commitment to social justice in education motivated her work as a literacy tutor, youth programs counselor, and ESL teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area and South America. Cristina is thrilled to bring these values and heart-filled experiences into her current work with Heartwise Learning. She holds a PhD in Sociology of Education from Stanford University, an MA in Social and Cultural Studies in Education from UC Berkeley, and a BA in Comparative Literature from Stanford University.
Mary Hofstedt, MA
Senior Associate
Mary Hofstedt has an extensive background in nonprofit leadership, curriculum and program design, social science research, and facilitation of cross-sector initiatives to benefit children and youth.
Prior to joining Heartwise, Mary served as Interim Head of School at Peninsula School in Menlo Park, where she oversaw change-management and strategic plan implementation. Prior to Peninsula, she was a Schools Program Director with Challenge Success, led a coalition of partners to found a community arts center, and worked for over a decade with Stanford University’s John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities, where she facilitated community-based research projects and co-developed youth leadership and action-research curriculum downloaded by thousands of educators and NGO leaders. Mary has also conducted implementation studies, and supported cross-sector data linking and strategic planning with a variety of organizations in the Bay Area; and co-founded the North Fair Oaks Youth Initiative in San Mateo County. She facilitates leadership and strategic planning workshops and retreats, and volunteers with such organizations as Celebrate Planet Earth in Santa Fe, NM. She is the parent of a recent college graduate, and is passionate about working with others to build vibrant schools and communities where all children are valued and connected.
Mary received her Masters of Education (MEd) in Social Science in Education at Stanford University, and her BA at Southern Methodist University.