The Mission Behind The IEP Pros™

The IEP Pros™ is a special education advocacy and consulting firm founded by Melanie Bradshaw, a veteran educator, consultant, and strategist with nearly 20 years of experience supporting students with disabilities across grade levels, needs, and school settings.

The IEP Pros™ advocates for parents navigating the IEP process and partners with schools and districts nationwide to deliver compliance training and professional development for special education teams. Our mission is to transform special education by putting student needs at the center, making systems more effective, and helping schools meet compliance standards and provide effective services for students with disabilities.

The vision behind our mission comes directly from Melanie Bradshaw, the founder and Chief Special Education Strategist of The IEP Pros™. With more than 18 years of experience in special education, Melanie Bradshaw has been a dedicated advocate, strategist, trainer, and educator. She has spent her career helping students, families, and schools create real change. Melanie’s mission is simple: Every child deserves an education that honors how they learn, helps them thrive, and builds the confidence they need to succeed.

Melanie began her career in 2006 as an Intervention Specialist, supporting students with autism, ADHD, specific learning disabilities, cognitive delays, severe emotional challenges, and other neurodivergent needs. Melanie worked across a wide range of educational settings, including resource rooms, self-contained classrooms, separate facilities, alternative schools for behavioral needs, extended school year programs, and secure residential centers.

From the beginning, Melanie's work as an educator has been deeply rooted in advocacy, collaboration, and system-wide change. Over time, she transitioned into a full IEP strategist and consultant, helping schools strengthen their special education systems and empowering parents to navigate the process with clarity and confidence.

Melanie founded The IEP Pros™ after seeing a major gap. Families often feel overwhelmed, left out of decision-making, or unclear about their rights. At the same time, educators are stretched thin and unsure how to meet every student's needs in a way that is both compliant and student-centered. The IEP Pros™ was created to close that gap by providing community, strategy, and real solutions for both families and schools.

Melanie holds a bachelor's degree in Special Education and a master's degree in Educational Technology. She has also completed all coursework toward a second master's degree in Social Work with a concentration in Therapy. This combination of education and real-world experience allows her to address not only the academic side of special education, but also the emotional and behavioral factors that impact how students learn and succeed.

Today, through personalized parent advocacy, one-to-one coaching, and IEP meeting support, Melanie helps families feel confident, informed, and empowered to get the services their children need and deserve.

In addition to working directly with parents, Melanie also partners with school districts to provide training, IEP audits, and program development to strengthen special education systems. Whether supporting a family through a tough meeting or helping a district improve its compliance practices, she leads every interaction with heart, expertise, and a focus on creating real transformation for students, families, and schools.

When Melanie is not working with families and schools, you can usually find Melanie traveling, dancing salsa, binge-watching reruns of 227, Amen, and The Golden Girls, or wandering the aisles of Burlington and HomeGoods even when she does not need a thing. She loves listening to podcasts about human behavior, spending time with her loved ones, doing her nails, and exploring graphic design projects just for fun.