Our Team
Jennifer Park
Founder & President
Connect with Jennifer if you want to make lives better for children and families, or if you’d like a gently used puzzle (she really will send you one).
Jennifer founded Early Childhood Solutions in 2006. It wasn’t until 2021 that she decided to dedicate more time and attention to it, allowing her to focus even more on her passion for community, equity, and the early childhood system. Her journey to discovering her professional calling has been shaped by diverse roles, including teaching toddlers, operating programs, and managing large state and national quality improvement portfolios. These varied experiences equip her with the insight and innovative ideas necessary to support others in their key roles, holding up and strengthening our early childhood system.
She is a helper, builder, and problem solver.
When Jennifer isn’t working, she’s engaged in various mission aligned volunteer activities, doing 1000 piece puzzles, and sinking her hands in her urban garden or just soaking in the beauty of nature. She lives in Washington, DC with her husband, Marcus, and her daughter’s perfect cat, Pluto. And she travels to Chicago to spend time with her son and to Miami to spend time with her daughter every chance she gets.
Lara Glaser
Chief Strategy Officer
Connect with Lara if you need a thought partner who can help dive deep into solutioning.
Lara has worked in publicly funded education at the local, state and national levels for more than 30 years. Her expertise is in creating systemic frameworks, metrics for success, operational processes, and eliminating inefficiencies with the goal of high outcomes. Lara started her career as an early learning center director, moved to the regional level serving a decade within the early learning coalitions in Florida, most recently as executive director, managing the client relationships with state leaders across the nation. She leads the professional learning team at Erikson Institute centered on equity for the most marginalized.
She is a strategist, synthesizer and truth-seeker.
Lara is most known as a CrossFitter outside of work and officiating the occasional wedding for a friend. Although, you might find her watching countless reruns of “Friends”. She is married and a mother to a beautiful teenage daughter. Her moral compass is evident and guided by her strong faith.
Mari Davis
Partner, Engagement Strategy
Connect with Mari if you need a partner in cultivating community, or some tips on your technique or coaching strategy.
Mari is an experienced leader with a deep passion for empowering others. She began her journey in education as a middle school science teacher, where she also coached softball, leading her team to three city championships. She transitioned to the nonprofit sector to focus on education programming, curriculum development, and mentoring girls. She eventually took on a Director of Education role overseeing early childhood and school-aged programs that served over 20,000 participants annually. Along the way, she earned a master’s degree in counseling and worked closely with children with ADHD. After over 20 years of experience managing projects, developing programs, and leading teams, Mari joined Jennifer to help shape the company’s long-term vision.
She is an observer, listener, and problem solver.
Outside of her professional endeavors, Mari enjoys swimming, cycling, and baking. She is married and a proud parent of three adult children, actively supporting their extracurricular activities. Her life is further enriched by her two young grandchildren, who bring her endless joy and happiness.
Shaundrea Brown
Content Strategist
Connect with Shaundrea if you want to nerd out on early childhood quality or if you are looking for restaurant tips.
Shaundrea is a skilled instructional designer, educator, and coach with extensive experience teaching both young children and adults, in person and virtually. Throughout her career, she has worked in the DC and Northern Virginia areas, including roles at School for Friends, the District of Columbia Public Schools, the University of the District of Columbia, and the University of Virginia. Most recently, she served as the Director of Workforce Training and Professional Development at Jumpstart for Young Children, where she provided virtual technical assistance and support across 15 states, including Washington, DC. In this role, Shaundrea created self-guided training modules, live training sessions (both in-person and virtual), and national webinars that emphasized cultural relevance, anti-bias, and anti-racism. She is passionate about supporting the early childhood workforce through guidance, advocacy, and sustainable practices.
She is an expert creator and partnership builder.
Shaundrea, a fourth-generation Washingtonian, enjoys exploring her city. When she’s not working, you’ll likely find her attending concerts, comedy shows, or discovering new restaurants—she’s an enthusiastic foodie! Between 2022 and 2024, she attended 27 concerts solo! Recently, Shaundrea has been building her confidence with heights, venturing into activities like zip-lining, parasailing, and even floating in a hot air balloon.
Rachelle Gamboa
Project Assistant
Connect with Rachelle if you don’t know where to start or are looking for help in figuring things out.
Rachelle is a senior at Temple University majoring in Psychology with a minor in Sociology. She embarked on her research journey as an undergraduate research assistant in Temple University’s Adaptive Memory Lab, where she contributed to studies on memory-guided decision-making. Her focus then shifted toward applied research in educational contexts. In the Summer of 2024, Rachelle volunteered as a research intern with the Children’s Equity Project and assisted with early childhood education policy research. Currently, Rachelle is working on her honors thesis with the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), where she also serves as an undergraduate research intern. Her work focuses on evidence-based mental health interventions in urban schools, which has deepened her interests in school mental health, disparities in educational mental health services, and supporting neurodivergent students.
She is a first and like firsts, figures everything out.
As a Filipino American and first-generation college student, Rachelle is passionate about addressing educational inequities, particularly for marginalized communities. She plans to pursue graduate school to gain the technical and experiential skills necessary to contribute to research and policy through an administrative lens.