About me
I’m an Instructional Designer and Learning Experience Consultant with over a decade of experience in higher education, training, and organizational development. I specialize in online and hybrid course design, instructional technologies, and project-based learning and have proven my ability to manage cross-functional teams and design scalable, inclusive, and accessible learning solutions aligned with strategic goals. Everyday I translate complex concepts into engaging, outcome-driven learning experiences.
But..how do I do that? Listening. Building relationships. Taking a “people first” approach to work. The SLOs and LTIs are important, and I’m good at those, but design work that matters always comes back to the people involved.
My career journey has always been about seeking opportunities to have bigger impact; that’s what got me out of the classroom and into a teaching and learning center – now I effect change for more than just my clients, but also for my peers and the larger university community. I don’t just work around limitations, I work through them to map out better and more sustainable processes.
Reducing barriers,
increasing access
I design and develop to meet people where they are. The desire to learn is brave and should be supported, not challenged unnecessarily.
Accessibility (in all its meanings, ADA & section 508 compliance, WCAG guidance, mobile readiness, low/no cost materials) is the North Star of my design work. Most recently, I collaborated on a study exploring student perceptions of accessibility in the LMS at Georgia State University.
What People Are Saying
“I highly recommend Mary Helen for any position requiring instructional design and course development skills. Mary Helen instrumental in transitioning my MBA Business Law course from a traditional in-person format to a fully online, asynchronous format. Throughout the process, she was a pleasure to work with—professional, highly organized, and well-versed in innovative, graduate-level teaching delivery methods.”
— John P. Thielman, Esq., Georgia State University Robinson College of Business
“I have nothing but high praise for Mary Helen and how she led me through the building of the course. I never felt overwhelmed at any time, despite the fact that I was quite nervous about the whole process at the beginning. She easily allayed those concerns. One of the things that I most appreciate from Mary Helen is that she always presented at least two options or ways of doing or presenting things and always provided clear rationale for them. I also appreciated her ability to get me to think like a student and better organize and deliver content that would make the rather boring and difficult methods content more palatable and interesting.”
— Dr. Mark D. Reed, Associate Professor, Georgia State University Andrew Young School of Policy Studies
“The knowledge, skills and resourcefulness of the team, especially Mary Helen, made my work and work process a lot easier. I was able to focus on the content and she used various designing tools and learning/building applications (TILT, etc.) to make the content better organized, more visually appealing, and easier to understand and apply. Also, she effectively helped to move content that was taught solely in a face-to-face format to an asynchronous online format.”
— Georgia State University Faculty
“I have over 15 years of teaching experience and have created many learning materials but working with Mary Helen on DATA 1501 in the 2024–2025 academic year truly stood out. This new introduction to data science course came to life on iCollege and Zybooks thanks to her expertise. She brought outstanding skill in structuring content, aligning materials with learning objectives, and adding connections that guided students through the material. Mary Helen is one of the best collaborators I have ever had: professional, creative, constructive, and easy to work with. Her warm personality, kindness, and positive energy brought life to our discussions. Any institution or team would be fortunate to have her.”
— Dr. Kiril Kuzmin, Lecturer, Georgia State University School of Computer Science
“Working with Mary Helen on the redesign of BUSA4000 – Global Business was a seamless and inspiring experience. She brought a strong understanding of learning design principles, an inclusive and learner-centered mindset, and exceptional attention to detail. Her ability to translate complex content into engaging and accessible learning experiences made a significant impact on the quality of the course. I truly appreciated her collaborative spirit and thoughtful approach to instructional design.”
— Dr. Salomão De Farias, Georgia State University Institute of International Business
“Mary Helen was extremely responsive and made sure that I knew at all times where we were in the design process. I loved receiving her emails, highlighting agenda items before our meetings and then summaries of what we accomplished and needed to work on after the meeting. These emails kept me on task in the midst of a semester when I was being pulled in multiple directions.”