Alive & Aligned
Bringing content and learning to life through embodied practice.
The body remembers what the mind forgets. It's a simple idea with profound implications for how learning gets designed and stories get told — and it's the belief behind everything I build. Curriculum, content strategy, learning experiences, digital products. Across education and social impact, in rooms and on screens, for audiences from PreK to adult.
Experience Embodied Learning
The Human Edge Toolbox is a free example of embodied practice in action, built end-to-end using AI-assisted development to ask the question: what happens when we bring more physical awareness and relational intelligence to our weekly workflow?
Get a 60-second Human Edge practice 15 minutes before any key meeting or work session — so you arrive regulated, not reactive.
Build Your Practice PlanThree Areas of Practice
Learning Experience Design
Curriculum frameworks, product design, and instructional architecture — from initial concept through production. Digital, analog, or both.
Content & Narrative Strategy
Finding the story inside your research, programs, or product — and building the content ecosystem that carries it.
Facilitation Design
Designing and delivering embodied workshops and professional learning experiences for teams, conferences, and communities.
My Framework
The ALIVE™ Method
My work is rooted in a 5-step design framework I use to develop learning experiences and content that engage the whole person — not just the mind.
Attune
Notice
What do the skills or concepts being taught feel like in lived experience — not just as theories?
Locate
Context
Where does this idea or message show up in the audience's real life?
Inquire
Signals
When does this idea or message matter most?
Validate
Discern
Why does this skill or concept matter now — for this audience, in this world, at this moment?
Embody
Practice
What somatic or kinesthetic experience actually builds this skill or concept in the body?
See how the ALIVE™ framework maps to your own strengths. Take the quiz →
Portfolio
Work That Moves
Creative Development & Production
Browse highlights from my two decades of work developing content, products and programs that engage the whole person. Every project is rooted in research collaboration and evidence-based practice — so that impact is not only felt, but measured.
students across 38 states
EduMotion
As a founder, I led 0-to-acquisition development of SEL Journeys, a first-of-its-kind K-8 digital curriculum integrating movement, storytelling, and SEL — owning the full product design lifecycle from UX and curriculum development through motion capture production and analog companion materials. The program was acquired by CATCH Global Foundation.
One of 10 companies selected from 500+ applicants for NewSchools Venture Fund investment.
children reached annually · All 50 states · 35 countries
CATCH Global Foundation
As VP of Programs and Product, I led a comprehensive overhaul of a major K-8 health, PE, and SEL product portfolio — spanning student-facing digital curriculum and adult professional learning — leading end-to-end creative development including the Mind-Heart-Body framework that unified a fragmented portfolio into a single coherent narrative.
$1M in first-year revenue with a 30% YOY increase in user engagement.
District Administrator Top EdTech Product Award
Alongside
As Head of Marketing & Strategic Communications, I owned the full marketing function for an AI-enabled K-12 mental health platform, from go-to-market strategy and demand generation to brand positioning, multi-channel campaigns, and thought leadership content.
Contributed to ESSA levels 2–4 accreditation and groundwork to achieve Common Sense Media's low-risk rating.
annual renewal rate · 100+ schools served each year
Dancing with Class
I founded Dancing with Class in 2006 as a mission-driven arts integration program — still running today. I built and led a team of 25+ teaching artists, designing a replicable instructional model integrating dance, SEL, and cultural literacy — with community-wide culminating events as the centerpiece.
Reached 300+ Chicago Public Schools across all 13 district networks — and still growing.
Starforce SEL program expansion into early elementary
Prosolve
As curriculum design lead, I expanded Prosolve's immersive, game-based SEL platform into early elementary — creating embodied entry points that made abstract human skills tangible for young children. I also designed the assessment framework, mapping curriculum activities to standards and measurable learning outcomes.
A game-based platform where role-play builds the human skills AI can't replicate.
lessons across 6 grade levels · 10 portable coping skills
InnerJoy
As lead on learning experience design, curriculum development, and data architecture, I developed the full scope and sequence for a large-scale K-5 SEL curriculum integrating movement, arts, and scientific psychology — inventing theme-specific somatic practices for each skill and authoring video scripts, facilitator guides, and slide content.
Collaboration with a multidisciplinary team of designers, educators, and psychologists.
Content Strategy & Thought Leadership
A selection of published work, research, and public conversations spanning AI, SEL, mental health, and the future of learning.
Alongside
Reimagine SEL
Lead author and designer of this research report reimagining the future of social-emotional learning for the AI age.
Alongside
Pulling Back the Curtain on Youth Mental Health
Conceived, authored, and designed this flagship research report on the youth mental health crisis — now an annual centerpiece of Alongside's marketing.
EdTech Institute of Chicago
Windy City EdTech Newsletter
Monthly newsletter for a volunteer-led networking community where I serve on the leadership and steering committee.
AI for Education
AI + SEL and Mental Health Webinar
Produced one of the first public conversations on AI and SEL/mental health. Contributing author of their SEL prompt library and founding member of Women in AI for Ed.
CASEL
AI + SEL: Exploring Opportunities & Threats
One of the first public explorations of AI and SEL — and CASEL's first ever blog on the topic. Published in 2023, before this conversation was on the industry roadmap.
Edutopia
Guest Author — Embodied Learning
Guest author covering embodied learning, SEL, and whole-child education.
Partnerships & Collaborations
Twenty years of collaboration across education, social impact, arts, and advocacy.
CDC
Contributor to CDC-funded guidance on supporting school employee wellness.
Kennedy Center
Professional learning and curriculum provider for the TurnAround Arts program.
Northwestern University
Adjunct faculty for the Medill School for Journalism, Media & Integrated Marketing Communications.
CASEL
Numerous research collaborations, and founding member of the SEL Providers Association.
YMCA
Custom program design and implementation as part of the Y's community schools initiative.
About Margot
Margot Toppen spent two decades building and leading companies dedicated to helping young people develop social-emotional skills through movement. She pioneered the work of teaching the “durable” skills textbooks can't teach — resilience, self-awareness, and human connection — by engaging the body first.
Today she brings that embodied expertise to her work as a marketing consultant and learning experience designer — building frameworks, curricula, and content ecosystems for organizations that believe how something is learned or communicated matters as much as what is taught or said. At the forefront of the conversation around how we use AI to support, not erode, human connection since 2023, she incorporates pro-social design principles when building with AI tools, designs for the whole person, and believes the most innovative learning experiences live at the intersection of emerging technology and embodied practice.
“AI is not your competition. It is your context. In that context, the most powerful thing you can do is become more fully, deliberately, trainedly human.”
Who I Work With
Edtech companies & social impact organizations
Building and marketing programs, products, and services that need to do more than inform — they need to change behavior, build skills, and feel different from everything else in the market.
Creative & content teams
Designing professional learning, youth programs, or community experiences who need someone who can hold the through-line between research, design, and what actually lands in a room.
Organizations navigating AI
Who want to develop the distinctly human skills that matter most right now, and understand you can't get there through content alone.
Coaches and facilitators
Seeking somatic methodology to integrate into existing practice.
“At ProSolve and with the Human Intelligence Movement, Margot has been an invaluable partner and thought leader. She has an exceptional ability to synthesize complex ideas and translate them into high-quality, actionable work. Her collaborative spirit, clear communication, and strong project management kept our team aligned and moving forward with focus and energy. She combines sharp expertise with an authentic commitment to the human-centered mission of education. She not only delivers but inspires.”
Let's Dive In
Put some time on my calendar and let's explore how the ALIVE framework can bring your program, project or service to life.
Schedule your 30 Minute Catalyst Conversation