“It’s so essential to get partnerships right from the beginning, and so much of it is about building trust.”

— Teresa Eckrich Sommer

Teresa Eckrich Sommer, PhD

Co-Founder & Research Professor, Institute for Policy Research 

Northwestern University

Teresa Eckrich Sommer is a research professor at the Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University. She is also director of the Northwestern Two-Generation Research Initiative (NU2Gen), which she co-founded in 2012. Sommer designs and promotes research-practice partnerships to study pressing issues in education and social policy. Her main areas of focus are the dual development of children and parents and the economic mobility of families. She is a leading scholar in the two-generation field, which aligns education services for parents and children at the same time. Sommer has conducted a variety of two-generation studies including: (a) the long-term effects of education and career training for parents plus Head Start on parent and youth outcomes, (b) implementation of the first-ever college promise scholarship program for youth and one of their parents, and (c) the design and study of strategies to promote belonging and connection for parenting students and their children on college campuses. Sommer began her career at the New York City Department of Juvenile Justice following a Coro Foundation Fellowship in Public Affairs. Over the course of her career, she has worked to advance social policy and practice for families in the U.S. and globally, including Ireland and Jamaica.

Dr. Sommer received a bachelor’s degree in human biology from Stanford University, a master’s degree of public policy, and a doctorate in public policy from Harvard University.