Maia Heyck-Merlin has over a decade of experience juggling high-volume roles in results-oriented organizations. She most recently served as Chief Talent Officer and Chief Operating Officer for Achievement First, a charter school management organization running 20 schools in Brooklyn and Connecticut. During this time, she oversaw teams that led recruitment, human capital, operations, and development and evaluation of school leaders and teachers at Achievement First.

Prior to joining Achievement First, she worked at Teach For America in a variety of capacities. Maia began as a corps member in South Louisiana where she taught fourth grade for two years and was named Teacher of the Year for her school and selected as a Fulbright Memorial Fund recipient. She then shifted to teach fifth grade at Children’s Charter School and directed Teach Baton Rouge’s first summer training institute for The New Teacher Project. In 2002, Maia returned to Teach For America as the Executive Director in South Louisiana, overseeing programmatic efforts for a corps that had doubled in size. She then served for three years as the Houston Institute Director, leading training and development for the incoming corps. In her last role at Teach For America, Maia founded and led the National Institute Operations team, which managed national operations for all five summer training institutes.

In 2007, Maia founded The Together Group, a business focused on training educators on topics such as time management, prioritization, organization, and efficiency. In 2011, she wrote The Together Teacher: Plan Ahead, Get Organized, and Save Time published by Jossey Bass in June of 2012.

Maia holds a B.A. in child development from Tufts University. She lives in the DC area with her husband Jack (a middle school English teacher), their energetic preschooler Ada, slightly more mellow baby boy Reed, and two unruly cats. In her free time, she enjoys swimming slowly, eating Oreos on the couch, and trying to keep up with her farm share deliveries.