MIND Education: A nonprofit transforming how students experience math.

For nearly 30 years, MIND Education has combined neuroscience, research, and visual problem-solving to help students build a deep, lasting understanding of mathematics.

Every student is capable of meaningful mathematical thinking.

At MIND Education, we see math as more than a subject. It is a way of thinking, and every student is capable of developing deep mathematical understanding.

Our work begins with a simple belief: students are more capable than we often imagine. By applying insights from neuroscience and learning research, we create experiences that help students reason, explore, and build understanding for themselves.

Explore ST Math

Discover our Research

All children are smarter than we think.

Dr. Gordon Shaw, Co-Founder of MIND Education

Where neuroscience and math learning came together

MIND Education was founded in 1998 by researchers who saw an opportunity to apply insights from neuroscience to math learning. Their work explored how students’ spatial-temporal reasoning—and visual, interactive experiences that rely less on language—could help make mathematical ideas more accessible and meaningful.

That work became the foundation of MIND Research Institute and, ultimately, ST Math. Since then, educators, neuroscientists, mathematicians, and learning designers have continued to refine an approach that allows students to explore mathematical ideas visually, reason through productive struggle, and build understanding for themselves.

Today, as MIND Education, we continue that work: creating learning experiences that help more students see that math can make sense.

Our Approach

We don’t just teach math—we change how students experience it.

Students don’t just solve problems—they make sense of them. Through visual models, interactive problem-solving, and immediate feedback, they explore ideas, test strategies, revise their thinking, and build understanding for themselves.

The result is more than correct answers. Students develop deep conceptual understanding, productive persistence, and the confidence to think mathematically.

Research is not an add-on to our work. It shapes how our programs are designed, studied, and continuously improved—and helps us understand the conditions that lead to meaningful student learning.

Explore Our Learning Approach

Meaningful math growth, across grades and learners

Studies across multiple grades and assessments show stronger mathematics growth for students using ST Math—including the equivalent of 10 or more additional weeks of learning in a single school year.

Research also shows positive outcomes across diverse student populations, reinforcing the potential of this approach to support meaningful learning at scale.

Explore the Research

Partnering for Impact

We’re grateful to the visionary foundations, donors, and partners who share our belief: that all students deserve a meaningful connection to math. Their support fuels our research, drives innovation, and helps bring ST Math into classrooms across the country.

Meet our Partners

Leadership

We are educators, researchers, mathematicians, game designers, and business leaders—with one shared mission: to ensure every student becomes a confident problem solver through the power of math.

We’re united by purpose. Grounded in science. Driven by outcomes.

Chuck Amos

Executive Chair of the Board 
Chief Executive Officer 
GuideK12

Chuck Amos is Chief Executive Officer at GuideK12, the only geovisual analytics company serving the education market. For many years, Chuck has been an independent consultant with educational technology companies globally. Prior to consulting, he served as the CEO of Atomic Learning where, under his leadership, the company grew to become the world’s leading provider of web-based software training serving schools globally. Before joining Atomic Learning, Amos worked as the Central US education regional manager for Apple Computer. Amos holds a bachelor of science degree in business with an emphasis in finance from the University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management.

Ellen Bialo

President & CEO
Interactive Educational Systems Design

Ellen Bialo devotes much of her time to the management, implementation, and analysis of education market research. Prior to founding IESD, she spent almost a decade in the classroom, teaching mathematics at both the junior and senior high school levels. Bialo has served the education publishing community as chair of the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) Education Section board of directors, an advisor to the National Science Foundation, an industry awards judge for EdNET and the Association of Educational Publishers, and a member of the School Tech Exposition & Conference advisory board. She earned her graduate degree at Teachers College, Columbia University and is a certified educational psychologist.

Mark Bodner, Ph.D.

Cofounder & Research Scientist
MIND Research Institute

Dr. Bodner is one of MIND’s co-founders. He is an adjunct professor of mathematics at the University of Pittsburgh and visiting professor at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at the East China Normal University. He formerly held faculty appointments at Johns Hopkins University’s Department of Neurosurgery and joint faculty appointments at UCLA’s Neuropsychiatric Institute and UC Irvine’s Department of Physics. Bodner received his Ph.D. and Master’s degrees in theoretical high-energy and mathematical physics from UCLA, and his Bachelor of Science in physics and chemistry from the University of Pittsburgh. He has served on the board of directors since 1998.

J. Weili Cheng

Associate
Laguna Strategic Advisors

J. Weili Cheng serves as an associate at Laguna Strategic Advisors where she offers consultation on operations, management, and strategic planning in the hospitality services industry. She has over three decades of experience in hospitality and has served in a variety of leadership positions. Cheng holds a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy from Yale University and a Juris Doctor degree from Georgetown University Law Center. Cheng joined MIND’s board of directors in 2022.

Donald E. Garcia

Founder & President
Pinnacle Consulting Group

Donald Garcia is founder, owner, and president of Pinnacle Consulting Group, a financial planning firm located in southern California. Previously, he was among the top investment advisors for John Hancock. He has been recognized by the Million Dollar Roundtable, a trade organization for financial professionals, and has served as president of the National Association of Professional Insurance and Financial Advisors of Orange County. Garcia earned his Bachelor of Arts in speech communication at California State University, Long Beach. He has served on the board of directors since 2014.

Tiffany Kuo

Director of Product Management
Teledoc Health

Tiffany devotes her time to building products for mission-driven organizations and products. She has held strategy and product management roles at multiple companies, large and small, including Microsoft, Deloitte, Teladoc, the global health nonprofit PATH, a Y Combinator-backed startup she co-founded, and others. She has deep expertise in launching and growing products, including those born out of research organizations.

Tiffany also serves on the board of directors for Boxlight, a NASDAQ-listed edtech company. She holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, as well as an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

David Solomon

Chief Executive Officer
Lightspeed Learning Technologies, Inc.

David Solomon brings over 30 years of leadership experience in technical and education markets, with a focus on building high-performing, mission-driven organizations. He currently serves as CEO of Lightspeed Technologies, a developer of classroom audio solutions for K-12 education, where he has held multiple leadership roles over the past 20 years, including VP of Product Marketing and SVP of Sales and Marketing. Earlier in his career, David contributed to the market development and successful IPO of Preview Systems and served as VP of Sales and Marketing for Audio Precision, where he led international growth through strong channel partnerships. David is passionate about creating classroom environments where every student can learn and thrive, and believes that how an organization achieves its mission, through a culture of integrity, trust, and collaboration, is just as important as the mission itself.

Jeannette Wistner

Partner
KPMG

Jeannette is a CPA and tax partner at KPMG, LLP, with over 29 yrs of experience in the area of Global Mobility. She serves as KPMG’s Global Mobility Market Leader for the West Coast & has developed a deep understanding of the challenges faced by both mobile employees & their employers, gained through her work experience in Miami, Seattle, Philadelphia, Paris, & now SoCal. Her extensive professional experience encompasses intl. income tax compliance & advisory services, cross-border tax, payroll delivery, expatriate policy development, & process admin. support. She has served clients across a wide range of industries, incl. Life Sciences, Manufacturing, Mining, Media & Entertainment, & Education. She holds an undergraduate degree in accounting from PA College of Textiles & Science & a Master’s in Taxation from PA University.

About MIND