Dr. Kristen Mattson serves as managing partner & dig cit doctor for Edvolve, which aims to help teachers and leaders transform digital citizenship education. She is a former middle school English teacher & high school library media specialist who has been supporting teachers, leaders, and learners with innovative curriculum and instruction for 17 years. ​

 In 2014, Kristen was in the early stages of her doctoral program when she was asked to locate and analyze digital citizenship curriculum to find content worthy of district-wide adoption. During the process, she found it difficult to compare materials since each one defined the concept differently. Kristen was also incredibly frustrated by the negative underpinnings that described the internet as a dangerous place and positioned young people as careless victims or malevolent bullies. Digital citizenship curriculum became the focus of Kristen’s doctoral dissertation, and her study earned the AATC Dissertation of the Year in 2017. 

Kristen’s passions for digital citizenship and her expertise in curriculum and instruction led to the publication of two books: Digital Citizenship In Action (ISTE, 2017) and Ethics in a Digital World (ISTE, 2021). She was also named an ISTE Emerging Leader in 2018. 
​
Kristen is a resident of Yorkville, IL and teaches graduate courses on media literacy and digital citizenship at the University of Illinois. In her free time, she enjoys hanging out with her three teenaged children, dabbling in home renovation projects, working in her flower gardens, and sipping cocktails with friends.