Marilyn Price-Mitchell, PhD
Marilyn Price-Mitchell, PhD, is a developmental psychologist, researcher, author, and founder of Roots of Action. Across a career spanning more than five decades, her work has explored how people discover their strengths, navigate challenges, find purpose, and contribute to their communities.
Her career began with organizational leaders and later focused on children, families, schools, and communities. Connecting these settings was a central question:
What relationships and experiences help people develop the inner capacities to lead meaningful lives?
A Career Centered on Human Growth
Price-Mitchell spent more than 25 years in Organization Development, helping corporations and nonprofit organizations with strategic planning, executive coaching, team development, and leadership.
Her perspective was shaped in part by studying with Gregory Bateson and Joseph Campbell at Esalen Institute in the late 1970s. Bateson’s systems thinking deepened her understanding of how relationships and environments shape development. Campbell encouraged her exploration of the inner journey—how people discover meaning and grow through life’s challenges.
As her interests shifted toward childhood and adolescence, she designed and led ParentNet, a program that strengthened parent-school communities, and co-founded the nonprofit National ParentNet Association.
She earned master’s degrees in Human Resource Development and Human and Organizational Systems, followed by a PhD in Human Development. She served as a post-doctoral fellow with Fielding Graduate University’s Institute for Social Innovation for fifteen years, until her retirement in 2026, conducting and synthesizing research on positive youth development and building family-school communities.
Research, Citizenship, and the Inner Compass
Price-Mitchell’s doctoral research explored the developmental stories of civically engaged young people. Their experiences highlighted the importance of caring relationships, meaningful challenges, reflection, and opportunities to contribute.
That research informed youth-development programs in the United States and abroad and became the foundation of her book, Tomorrow’s Change Makers: Reclaiming the Power of Citizenship for a New Generation.
Her research and synthesis across disciplines also led to the creation of the Compass Advantage, a framework identifying eight interconnected abilities that help young people thrive: curiosity, sociability, resilience, self-awareness, integrity, resourcefulness, creativity, and empathy.
These abilities offer a shared language for understanding growth through everyday experiences. The compass metaphor reflects a belief central to her work: adults cannot predict every challenge children will face, but they can help young people develop the inner resources to pilot their own lives.
Bringing Research into Everyday Life
Price-Mitchell founded Roots of Action in 2011 to make research in positive youth development accessible to parents, educators, and youth mentors. The website grew to reach more than three million visitors annually, offering free articles, tools, and guides for homes and classrooms. She also wrote for Psychology Today, Edutopia, and other national media outlets and publications on all topics related to youth.
Through her writing, research, speaking, and parent coaching, she encouraged adults to look beyond grades, test scores, and outward accomplishments. Education, she argued, should prepare young people both to make a living and to build a life—with the capacity to think critically, build relationships, adapt to uncertainty, and act with integrity.
Dr. Marilyn Price-Mitchell speaking to audiences of parents and educators.
A New Chapter
Price-Mitchell retired from active consulting and publishing in 2026, preserving Roots of Action as an educational resource. This website invites adults to ask thoughtful questions, build meaningful relationships, and create opportunities for young people to become active participants in their own development. Explore the menu at the top of the page for articles, research, and tools to use at home and school.
Her professional interests extend to intentional aging; grief support; and building collaborative, inclusive communities. She has many personal interests, including reading, art and architecture, technology, garden wandering, walking, music, and traveling.
Explore Price-Mitchell’s Work
Explore the research, frameworks, and practical resources developed by Marilyn Price-Mitchell.
- About Roots of Action – Learn how to use the Roots of Action website as a parent, teacher, or youth mentor and best places to begin your reading.
- The Compass Advantage — Explore the eight internal abilities that help young people thrive.
- Research — Browse her research on life satisfaction in adolescence, youth civic engagement, and the relationship between human development and thriving.
- Articles — Browse almost 150 articles with practical guidance for parents, teachers, and youth mentors.
- Tools and Guides — Access free resources designed to help adults apply the principles of positive youth development, including downloadable guides and eBooks, visuals & printables, and handouts for home and classroom.
- Tomorrow’s Change Makers — Her book on how relationships and transformative experiences help young people become engaged citizens.
