Dr. Maria Baez

Dr. Baez is an Adjunct Professor and Doctoral Faculty at Capitol Technology University in Maryland, where she teaches research, ethics, and leadership and mentors dissertation candidates in qualitative and quantitative research, believing that rigorous scholarship should be accessible to those with vision and tenacity. Dr. Baez is also an organizational leadership psychologist and applied researcher. Her research combines cyberpsychology and organizational leadership, examining how AI and technology shape ethical decision-making, behavior, digital mindlessness, and psychological safety. A prolific scholar-practitioner, Dr. Baez has edited two peer-reviewed volumes with IGI Global: Strategic Approaches to Mindful Leadership and Change Management (2025) and AI-Powered Leadership: Transforming Organizations in the Digital Age (2025). She is also the author of several peer-reviewed book chapters on organizational diagnosis, healthcare management consulting, workplace wellness, and cybersecurity. Two book manuscripts are in development: Mindlessness: The Art of Living an Unconscious Life and Unseen Threads: Weaving Mindfulness into the Fabric of Inclusive Workplaces.

As a visiting Scholar at Rutgers' Center for Minority Serving Institutions, she focuses on inclusive leadership, faculty equity, and institutional change. Committed to expanding access to evidence-based knowledge, Dr. Baez actively participates in continuing education certification programs in cyberpsychology and cybersecurity for English- and Spanish-speaking professionals, advancing inclusive scholarly engagement across linguistic and cultural communities. She holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Organizational Leadership Psychology from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology (2022), where her dissertation examined the relationship between mindful leadership, occupational stress, and organizational culture.

Dr. Baez, founder of MBaez Consulting in Glen Cove, NY, has offered organizational diagnosis, leadership development, change management, and strategic coaching since 2014 across corporate and academic sectors. She created and led Mindful Utopia: Navigating Beyond Workplace Autopilot, an eight-week leadership program since 2023. Her past roles include senior HR and labor relations at Unilever Caribbean and Aerotek/Premier Brands of America, with over twenty years of experience in multinational organizations, enriching her scholarship. The arc of Dr. Baez’s career is perhaps best understood through a philosophy she holds deeply: it is not the journey that determines the person, but the person who determines the journey. The youngest of eight siblings by a decade, she was the first in her family to earn a doctoral degree, the first to build an international scholarly career, and the first to break through the structural and cultural barriers that might otherwise have defined a different outcome. It is this lived understanding of forging a path without a map that informs her commitment to equity in higher education, her dedication to mentoring emerging scholars, and her conviction that rigorous, human-centered research can catalyze meaningful change.

Dr. Baez is a bilingual scholar and practitioner, fluent in English and Spanish, who delivers instruction, conducts research, provides consulting services, and engages in community work in both languages. Her professional preparation includes advanced certifications in AI for Work and Life (University of North Florida, 2025), AI Prompting Essentials – Advanced (Management and Strategy Institute, 2023), and Certified Workplace Mindfulness Facilitation and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, among others. Her scholarly record is documented at ORCID: 0000-0002-5693-3825.

Education

• Ph.D., Organizational Leadership Psychology — The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, Washington, DC (2022)
• Master of Business Administration, Human Resources — Keller Graduate School of Management, New York (2013)
• Master of Science, Operations Administration — Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre & Maestra, Dominican Republic (2005)
• Bachelor of Science, Industrial Engineering — Universidad Dominicana Organización y Método, Dominican Republic (2000)