Master of Applied Positive Psychology

Claire Robertson-Kraft (she/her), PhD, is the founder and executive director of ImpactED and the faculty co-director at Fels Institute of Government at the University of Pennsylvania. She has more than twenty years of experience working as a teacher, evaluator, and nonprofit leader in the Philadelphia region. She has extensive experience teaching research methods and conducting evaluations in the areas of education, public policy, positive psychology, social impact, and community engagement.

“Coaching or mentoring has always been a part of my background in some respect,” shares Josh Howard (Master of Applied Positive Psychology ’24). In college, he served as manager for LSU men’s basketball team. In his twenties, he worked as a youth pastor. Today, Josh is chief of staff at the Baton Rouge Youth Coalition (BRYC) and an adjunct professor at his alma mater.

Lara Merriken (Master of Applied Positive Psychology ’23) always thought of herself as a positive person. Believing in hers and others’ strengths created a throughline in her careers—from working as a social worker with at-risk youth, to founding LÄRABAR, to serving as an adviser after the company’s acquisition by a Fortune 500 corporation. “Human flourishing is what I’ve always been about,” she says. Although Lara studied psychology as an undergraduate, she first heard of positive psychology at her son’s school, where she is a board member.

Before she discovered positive psychology and Penn’s Master of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) program, Dr. Marjorie Aunos (MAPP ’25) was at a difficult point in her life. For nearly a decade, the psychologist and researcher had been managing living with an acquired disability alongside raising her son and sustaining her career. The convergence of challenges left her burnt out and depressed.