APPENDIX • 335
Copyright 2023 Marline E. Pearson
About the Author
Marline E. Pearson has taught social science and criminology classes at Madison Area Technical
College, a two-year community college in Madison, Wisconsin, for 30 years. Her long-standing
interest in vulnerable youth and families with a focus on prevention and promising asset-building
interventions led to her interest in relationship education. In addition to social science classes, Ms.
Pearson has pioneered a unique relationship skills class as part of a student success initiative.
Before creating Love Notes (an evidence-based pregnancy prevention program due to the results of a
5-year random control trial study) for older teens and young parents, Pearson developed Relationship
Smarts. Relationship Smarts was the subject of a rigorous, large-scale, five-year evaluation in the state
of Alabama involving over 8,000 diverse teenagers conducted by researchers at Auburn University.
Pearson is also coauthor, with Scott Stanley and Galena Kline Rhoades, of Within My Reach, a
nationally recognized relationship skills and decision-making program for helping individuals—
primarily single mothers and fathers who struggle with economic hardship—achieve their goals in
relationships, family, and marriage. Pearson also co-authored, with Barbara Dafoe Whitehead, Making
a Love Connection: Teen Relationships, Pregnancy, and Marriage, a report commissioned and published
by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy (today Power to Decide) and
“Reaching for Higher Ground: New Approaches to Teen Sexuality,” published in the Journal of Family
Relations. Her classes have been featured in numerous national media, including TIME Magazine and a
PBS special and companion book.
Pearson is frequently called upon to discuss teen and young adult relationships and has conducted
numerous trainings on sexuality and teen and adult relationships. Long active in educational
improvement, Ms. Pearson created and taught The Critical Literacy Project, an active-learning and
teaching improvement program at her community college for a number of years. Aside from teaching
at the college, she has taught all three programs extensively in community-based organizations
serving primarily vulnerable youth and adults and those in corrections and re-entry.
She lives in Madison, Wisconsin, with her husband, Rob Kennedy, and they have two young adult
daughters. She holds an M.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Copyright 2023 Marline E. Pearson
About the Author
Marline E. Pearson has taught social science and criminology classes at Madison Area Technical
College, a two-year community college in Madison, Wisconsin, for 30 years. Her long-standing
interest in vulnerable youth and families with a focus on prevention and promising asset-building
interventions led to her interest in relationship education. In addition to social science classes, Ms.
Pearson has pioneered a unique relationship skills class as part of a student success initiative.
Before creating Love Notes (an evidence-based pregnancy prevention program due to the results of a
5-year random control trial study) for older teens and young parents, Pearson developed Relationship
Smarts. Relationship Smarts was the subject of a rigorous, large-scale, five-year evaluation in the state
of Alabama involving over 8,000 diverse teenagers conducted by researchers at Auburn University.
Pearson is also coauthor, with Scott Stanley and Galena Kline Rhoades, of Within My Reach, a
nationally recognized relationship skills and decision-making program for helping individuals—
primarily single mothers and fathers who struggle with economic hardship—achieve their goals in
relationships, family, and marriage. Pearson also co-authored, with Barbara Dafoe Whitehead, Making
a Love Connection: Teen Relationships, Pregnancy, and Marriage, a report commissioned and published
by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy (today Power to Decide) and
“Reaching for Higher Ground: New Approaches to Teen Sexuality,” published in the Journal of Family
Relations. Her classes have been featured in numerous national media, including TIME Magazine and a
PBS special and companion book.
Pearson is frequently called upon to discuss teen and young adult relationships and has conducted
numerous trainings on sexuality and teen and adult relationships. Long active in educational
improvement, Ms. Pearson created and taught The Critical Literacy Project, an active-learning and
teaching improvement program at her community college for a number of years. Aside from teaching
at the college, she has taught all three programs extensively in community-based organizations
serving primarily vulnerable youth and adults and those in corrections and re-entry.
She lives in Madison, Wisconsin, with her husband, Rob Kennedy, and they have two young adult
daughters. She holds an M.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
