Meet the Team
Lisa Ferguson, MAT ECE
Early Language, Literacy, Math, and Play
As an early childhood education professional with more than 30 years of experience, Lisa brings an academic perspective and extensive experience in higher education and professional development to A Promising Start. Her areas of expertise include language and literacy development, early math learning, and play. Lisa has worked with Erikson Institute in Chicago for more than 15 years in various capacities, including teacher educator, instructional coach, and professional development designer and facilitator. Her experience also includes classroom teaching and university instruction. She has presented at conferences hosted by organizations including Erikson Institute, the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), and the Buffett Early Childhood Institute, and delivered a keynote address at the YWCA’s Empowering Educators Annual Conference. She was also a demonstration teacher for national training videos with the U.S. Department of Education and an external subject matter expert reviewer for Teaching Strategies. Lisa is a co-author of Bringing Baby Home, a resource created in partnership with the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Chicago Mayor’s Office. She serves on the board of Reach Out and Read Illinois and holds a Master of Arts in Teaching in Early Childhood Education from National-Louis University. Lisa lives in Chicago with her husband, Jon, and they have two adult children.
Crystal Elliott-O'Connor, MAT ECE
Early Learning and Family Support
Crystal has been in the field of early childhood education for nearly 30 years. Beginning her career as an assistant teacher in a nursery classroom, Crystal has served in various capacities including Kindergarten teacher, Training Coordinator, and Director of a Head Start Training Center on Chicago’s west side. Additionally, she serves pre-service teachers as an adjunct instructor on the community college and university levels. Currently Crystal is launching a new early childhood training and professional development consulting practice, Get Back 2 Basics! Crystal holds a Master of Teaching in Early Childhood Education from National Louis University. Training, professional development, and public speaking to advance the cause of early care and education, are her greatest passions.
Mariana Glusman, MD
Pediatrics
Mariana has dedicated her career to decreasing health and educational disparities among low income children. She is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine and an attending pediatrician at Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Uptown clinic where, for the past 22 years, she has cared for a diverse, multilingual, medically complex, underserved patient population. She is the current president of the Illinois Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. She is nationally recognized for her work with Reach Out and Read (ROR), a program that partners with pediatricians to promote early literacy development and is currently. Mariana is the author of “I Love You Like Sunshine: How Everyday Play and Bedtime Stories Grow Love Connections and Brainpower,” a book for newborns and their caregivers, with over 55,000 copies in distribution in hospitals, clinics, libraries, and community programs nationwide.
Lauren Solarski, MSEd, PhD
Early Learning and Child Development
Lauren is currently a full-time Mama to her adventurous 6 and 2-year-old, and part-time Professor of child development and teacher education. She brings experience as an award-winning, certified PreK-2 teacher, an early childhood researcher, and an instructional coach. Lauren earned a PhD in Child Development from Erikson Institute in conjunction with Loyola University, and a Masters in Education and Social Policy from Northwestern University. She is a frequent presenter at local and national conferences. Her work has been published in Young Children and NAEYC’s Focus on Developmentally Appropriate Practice: Equitable and Joyful Learning in Kindergarten. She also shares ideas for caregivers to mathematize everyday moments on Instagram @mathWITHmama.
