Marsha Maxwell, PhD, is a neuroscientist, strategist, technologist, and education innovator whose career spans scientific research, technology, startups, and education. For more than 25 years, she has worked at the intersection of human learning and emerging technology, turning complex ideas into practical systems and new models for how people learn, create, and thrive.

A Spelman College alumna, Marsha earned her PhD in Neuroscience and MS in Biology from the California Institute of Technology and conducted postdoctoral research at KU Leuven in Belgium. She later pursued postgraduate study in cognitive studies and intelligent technologies at Columbia University. Her scientific experience has also included NASA Kennedy Space Center, INSERM in France, and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, where she served as a visiting scientist exploring human factors and immersive technologies.

Marsha has founded and advised ventures, built academic and research pipelines, designed new learning models, and led technology and innovation strategy. Her global perspective is grounded in years of living and working across cultures and systems. She has lived and worked in Russia, Australia, the United Kingdom, France, Cambodia, South Korea, Turkey, and Belgium, building lasting professional and community relationships along the way. Experiencing different educational, scientific, technological, and cultural systems from within has shaped how she approaches innovation: there is rarely one model worth replicating wholesale. The more powerful work is understanding what different systems make possible and building something better from what they teach us.

A longstanding focus of Marsha’s work is expanding access to STEM, AI, data science, and emerging technologies for young people and communities historically underrepresented in these fields. She combines scientific thinking, technology, pedagogy, and partnership to build learning models that are forward-looking while remaining deeply human.

A two-time TEDx speaker and recipient of the 2025 AAIE Dr. Keith Miller Innovation Award, Marsha has presented and collaborated with organizations across technology, research, and education. Her work is rooted in a simple conviction: the future of learning should not be dictated by technology, but neither should it be constrained by the systems we inherited.

She is the reason we challenge what exists and build toward what could be.

Michelle Maxwell-Girod brings more than 28 years of experience in curriculum design, differentiated instruction, literacy development, and learning architecture for diverse student populations. An Educational Specialist in Special Education, she is also certified in English Language Arts with endorsements in ESOL and Gifted Education, reflecting a pedagogical range that spans Kindergarten through 12th grade and extends into post-secondary instruction.

Her classroom experience includes primary, secondary, and college settings, with particular expertise in composition and advanced composition, academic language development, literacy intervention, and college reading remediation. A writer as well as an educator, Michelle holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University and a BS from Troy University, complemented by additional graduate-level study and certifications. Her work is grounded equally in instructional design and in the craft and power of language.

At the heart of Michelle’s teaching is helping students discover their voices and equipping them with the confidence, critical thinking, and communication skills to turn those voices into agency, opportunity, and meaningful impact. She continues to teach in the Atlanta area, ensuring that LMNL’s frameworks are continually tested against the realities of today’s classrooms. She is the reason our work is both rigorous and humane.

She is the reason our work is both rigorous and humane.

Richard Maxwell brings more than two decades of experience spanning software engineering, technology strategy, law, and organizational leadership. Trained as a computer scientist and practicing as an attorney, Richard began his career in technology, with experience that included IBM and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and Jet Propulsion Laboratory, before expanding his work into technology consulting, legal practice, and leadership roles supporting technology-driven organizations.

Richard holds a BS in Computer Science from Morehouse College and a JD from the University of Georgia School of Law and is admitted to the State Bar of Georgia. His multidisciplinary background encompasses software development, systems and technology consulting, intellectual property, regulatory compliance, contracts, litigation strategy, and general counsel work for technology ventures. He has also taught at the college level, developing curriculum and helping students understand and apply complex technical concepts.

At LMNL Labs, Richard leads the organization’s technology and legal functions, with responsibility for translating ambitious ideas into secure, reliable, and scalable systems. His combined technical and legal expertise gives LMNL a distinctive advantage: the ability to approach emerging technologies not only from the perspective of what can be built, but also how it should be designed, governed, protected, and responsibly deployed. As LMNL develops its AI-native learning infrastructure and other technology platforms, Richard provides the technical leadership and disciplined systems thinking required to move from experimentation to sustainable implementation.

He is the reason our ideas become systems that work.