Dr. Kristin Meyer: Transforming Special Education Through Advocacy and Heart
As Co-Founder of The REACH Group, Dr. Meyer champions educational equity while empowering families to navigate the complex world of special education advocacy.
For Dr. Kristin Meyer, advocacy isn’t just a profession, it’s a calling. As a mom and seasoned expert, she understands how overwhelming the special education process can be. Through The REACH Group, she empowers families with knowledge, compassion, and the unwavering belief that every child deserves the chance to thrive.
Dr. Kristin Meyer is a 2025 Main Line Parent Women of Influence Award Winner
Main Line Parent’s Women of Influence Awards celebrate exceptional women making significant impacts in our community. Dr. Meyer was selected by the Family Focus Media team based on her achievements and dedication to creating positive change in her community. Each Women of Influence Award Winner has committed to support Family Focus Media’s core values. Together, we are committed to foster a sense of belonging and empowerment for all for all families. All backgrounds, races, genders, and sexual orientations are welcome and safe with us.
Beyond the awards, our Women of Influence Luncheons and Speed Networking Night attendees come together as our Women of Influence Network, a community fostering connections, collaboration, and mutual support.
From Teacher to Fierce Advocate
Dr. Meyer’s path to full-time advocacy evolved naturally from her role as an educator. “I was a teacher, I was a principal, but I was always that person who really had a lot of information in their brain,” she explains. “I was always helping parents, and that’s how I genuinely got into the role of advocating full-time.”
What started as side consultations has grown into something much larger. Working alongside her co-founder Dana, Dr. Meyer has helped shape The REACH Group into a deeply collaborative child-centered organization. But perhaps more significantly, she has expanded her influence into policy and legislation.
“I began very focused on the parent-child connection,” she shares. “Now, I’ve found another path—working in policy and lobbying to bring greater awareness to the needs of children with disabilities. Taking my voice and putting it on a larger platform is how this work has truly evolved.”
Life-Changing Impact Through The REACH Foundation
The nonprofit arm of their organization, The REACH Foundation, provides scholarships to families who can’t afford advocacy services—work that Dr. Meyer describes with genuine passion. “One in four children has a disability,” she emphasizes. “So any room you go into, there is a child that has some kind of special education disability.”
The impact is profound and measurable. Recently, two high school students with identical diagnoses and similar behavioral incidents faced potential expulsion. Both families approached their school district seeking help. One family came to The REACH Group through their scholarship program; the other chose not to seek advocacy support. The result? One child remains in school; the other was expelled.
“I was able to prove how the district failed to implement their policy, therefore violating the child and parent rights,” Dr. Meyer explains. “We were able to save this prison-to-pipeline situation because it was exactly that.” The success represents more than avoiding expulsion—it changed the trajectory of a young person’s entire life.
Another foundation success story involved a foster child whose behavioral challenges at school threatened his potential adoption. Through advocacy that secured proper educational services and placement, the young man not only avoided expulsion but made the honor roll and was formally adopted by his foster family.
Breaking Down Barriers and Misconceptions
Dr. Meyer’s work tackles a unique and often overlooked challenge in affluent communities like the Main Line. “In these areas, there’s a real stigma around special education,” she explains. “Parents sometimes feel that if their child learns differently, it reflects on them—that they’ve somehow failed. But the truth is, they haven’t failed at all. Supporting your child’s unique needs is not a weakness—it’s strength in action.”
Her message to parents is clear: “Different is beautiful. Different is awesome. Our kids need to be different because if we were all the same, what a boring world we would live in.” She encourages families to focus on strengths rather than deficits, building up areas of strength to support areas of need.
The biggest misconception she encounters? Parents trust that schools are automatically doing everything possible for their children. “I want parents to ask questions: What else can you be doing for my child? Don’t assume the district is doing absolutely everything. What am I not getting? What other options do we have?”
Personal Phoenix Moments
“I was probably born for the fire—red hair and all,” Dr. Meyer laughs. “But if I had to choose my biggest phoenix moment, it would be finishing my doctorate.” She began her program when her daughter Scarlett was just nine weeks old. “Because, you know, you’re on maternity leave—so you take doctoral classes,” she jokes, “Says no mom ever.”
What should have taken three years stretched into six, shaped by career changes, motherhood, and severe postpartum depression. “That season changed my life,” she reflects. “Postpartum was one of the hardest things I’ve experienced, but also one of the most transformative. It taught me how to give myself grace, how to be perfectly imperfect, and how to lead with empathy.”
Professional detours shaped her path, too. “Honestly?” she says, smiling. “Being a principal taught me that I wasn’t great at it—and that was exactly what I needed to learn. I loved the students, I loved the parents and staff—but I didn’t love the politics and policy around it all.”
That role gave her a reality check and helped her release the pressure to be everything to everyone. “It was humbling, but it led me to where I truly belong.” It also introduced her to her future co-founder, Dana. Together, they launched The REACH Group—built on advocacy, empathy, and the belief that every family deserves better.
Systemic Change and Future Vision
Having completed Pennsylvania’s Department of Education fellowship program this year—as the only advocate among 40 educational leaders—Dr. Meyer witnessed firsthand the challenges facing special education. The statistics are staggering: Pennsylvania funds only 22% of special education, while student identification has risen steadily—now exceeding 324,000 students statewide, with sharp increases over recent years.
“My girlfriend who is teaching in a neighboring school district has 65 IEPs across three math classes, and none of them are regular ed classes anymore,” she shares. “That’s straight up special ed. There are not enough teachers. There are too many kids in the classroom.”
Her vision for the next five years centers on two key changes: full funding for special education and districts fulfilling their legal obligations to families. “Parents are afforded the right to training, and IEPs should be trained by districts to parents, but they don’t do it,” she explains. “Every time a district fails to do their job with fidelity, I want to be the smiling face that says, ‘Hello, let’s fix this.'”
The Power of Faith and Balance
The emotional weight of advocacy work—including the loss of 25 students to mental health crises and addiction throughout her career—requires intentional self-care. “I am a devout Catholic. I meditate. I pray every night for about an hour,” she shares. “Before every IEP meeting, I say my prayers, and walking out, I say my prayers and I kiss it up to God.”
Her advice to parents struggling with their children’s challenges reflects this perspective: “Our kids are still in crisis from the lingering impacts of COVID. It’s okay to be scared. And it’s absolutely okay to ask for help.”
A Growing Mission
The recent $30,000 grant from the Pottstown Wellness Association represents The REACH Group’s largest funding to date, allowing them to expand their scholarship program and reduce waiting lists. Dr. Meyer is also developing parent coaching services for families navigating mental health systems, drawing on her extensive background in emotional support education.
Her message to Main Line parents is practical and empowering: “Be the squeaky wheel. You know your child the best. At the beginning of the school year, you email your teachers. You introduce yourself. You establish your credibility by being proactive, not reactive.”
For Dr. Meyer, every day brings the joy of doing work she created for herself—work that aligns perfectly with her values and calling. “I get up every day filled with joy because I am doing what I love to do,” she says. “Every day I’m empowering parents and loving on these amazing human beings.”
Eight-year-old Scarlett watches her mother’s work with the keen observation of a child growing up in an entrepreneurial household. While she keeps her mom grounded (“Mom, enough. I’ll let you know when I’m upset”), she’s also learning that hard work and passion can create opportunities to make a real difference in the world.
Dr. Kristin Meyer’s influence extends far beyond individual IEP meetings or advocacy sessions. She’s building systemic change while ensuring that every family—regardless of their ability to pay—has access to the support they need. Her work reminds us that sometimes the most powerful advocacy comes from someone willing to be the voice for those who haven’t yet found their own.
