AKIRA GUTIERREZ RENZULLI, Ph.D., M.S., M.A.
Applied Psychological Science, EdTech Research & Strategy,
Youth Mental Health, Digital Wellness, & Overall Wellbeing
Organizational Systems Design
Welcome
THE LATEST
New year, new heights! In February 2026, I joined Power Public Schools as the Founding Vice President of Research & Operations. Power Public Schools is a first-of-its-kind public charter school opening in Cobb County, GA in Fall of 2027 and a nationally scaling EdTech organization building AI-empowered, human-centered systems that transform outcomes for students and educators. In my role, I serve as a strategic partner to the Founder and leadership team, designing the operational infrastructure, leading research planning across AI agents and adaptive learning platforms, and building the scalable frameworks and playbooks that will support Power's growth into new communities and markets.
This work sits squarely at the intersection of everything I care most about: youth learning & wellness, developmental science, systems thinking, and the belief that rigorous, equity-centered research can and should shape what happens in classrooms every day.
More to come — including on the research side, where we're diving deep into AI-enabled learning and what it means to build tools that are both scientifically sound and genuinely useful for the educators and young people who use them.
HELLO!
Welcome to my website! I am a research scientist specializing in applied youth psychology. I draw from my research and applied experiences with child development, social-emotional and behavioral skills development, and mental health wellness and prevention to collaborate with organizations, schools, and districts across the U.S. to support their learning and implementation efforts around early childhood initiatives, social-emotional, culturally responsive, trauma-informed practices to benefit educators, students, and families.
I hold advanced degrees in developmental and child clinical psychology and am currently completing my doctoral degree in psychology. My research interests include learning about youth’s experiences with adversity, resilience, and sense of belonging and how we can promote student and educator wellbeing in schools. Ultimately, I hope to continue working in community with others to create healthy and supportive environments that promote mental and emotional wellbeing for youth from different backgrounds, identities, and abilities.
You can learn more about my work by browsing this site. Thank you for being here!
