Julia Mahfouz, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the Leadership for Educational Organizations program, School of Education and Human Development at the University of Colorado Denver. She is the director of the Prosocial Leader Lab and a member of the inaugural cohort of CASEL’s Roger Weissberg scholars. Her research explores the social, emotional, and cultural dynamics of educational settings placing specific emphasis on adult social and emotional competencies (SECs), specifically school administrators and the integration of systemic SEL into principal preparation programs. Thus, she has implemented mindfulness-based and social emotional learning (SEL)-based professional development programs to understand how such programs can improve principal wellbeing and leadership. She has also investigated how preparation programs and certification standards can be strengthened to enhance effective leadership by supporting principals to deepen their social and emotional competencies. Her overall research work has three basic strands: 1) SEL-based and mindfulness-based implementation and evaluation; 2) prosocial school leadership, and 3) social and emotional dynamics of school improvement.
Her research has been published in journals such as Journal of Educational Administration, Educational Management Administration and Leadership, International Journal of Leadership in Education, Education and Urban Society, Mindfulness, College Student Affairs Journal, and in practitioner outlets such as The Learning Professional and Education Canada.
She is currently (2023-2024) the program chair of International Studies Special Interest Group (SIG) under American Educational Research Association (AERA).