Suzanne O'Connor
With a career expanding more than three decades in early childhood education (ECE) and grantmaking, Suzanne is driven by a mission to promote trauma-informed care (TIC) and parenting education opportunities within the childcare sector. Her journey has taken her through diverse teaching and management roles in community-based and academic settings, including the YWCA of Germantown (Philadelphia, PA), and Pennsylvania State University’s Child Development Lab. In the early 2000s at her local United Way, Suzanne played a pivotal role in developing and funding initiatives to enhance childcare quality. Recognizing the urgency of preschool expulsion rates, she spearheaded the launch of a regional cross-sector TIC. In 2022, as research emerged about the pandemic’s shocking impact on child development, Suzanne joined longtime colleagues at Lakeside Global Institute to focus exclusively on translating and advancing trauma-informed care in the field of ECE. She piloted and recently launched a training series to help both ECE professionals and childcare programs become trauma informed. Beyond her professional endeavors, Suzanne is a founding board member of the Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice. In her personal time, she loves to cook and is learning Improv Comedy.
