Erika Somogyi — School and District Partnership Manager at Lalilo
Favorite Book: Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Favorite Animal: African Grey Parrot
Favorite Travel Destination: Himachal Pradesh, Northern India
Education has been Erika’s passion for the last 10 years. From NGOs in Yemen and India to public schools in China, she has taught in schools all over the world. One of her most memorable experiences was a teaching assignment in a French governmental sponsored program bringing English speakers to French public schools. In a lucky draw, Erika was placed in a fascinating setting: L’Internat d’Excellence or the “Boarding School of Excellence”. However, contrary to the name, the students in attendance were not academic superstars. Most of the young scholars were at risk students from the poorest areas of the city. The academics were rigorous, but yet based on the best practices in education such as a more personalized approach to education. “It was the first time that I realized innovation in education is possible if students are given the right circumstances to learn and educators best tools to teach .”
This foundational belief that change is possible in education continues to drive Erika’s work. Erika joined Lalilo because she hopes to help teachers. “Reading opens up the doors to directions in math, a paragraph describing a science concept, and builds empathy through stories. As a school leader and teacher I continuously saw students fall behind in all subjects due to low literacy levels”. The targeted reading instruction students really need is time consuming. Thus, when Erika saw an opportunity to work with an innovative company who cares deeply about the work teachers do she knew she wanted to be involved.
Erika loves that she gets to talk to teachers all day. In fact, it doesn’t even feel like work because she believes every word she says when she describes the benefits of Lalilo. “There’s so many tools out there that teachers might not even know exist. I love that I get to share a new impactful resource”. Overall, as part of the school partnership team Erika continues to be driven by the fact that by introducing better tools and strategies we can improve education on a grander scale.
In her free time Erika enjoys running along the East River, relaxing in Savasana after a good yoga class, and spending time with her daughter, husband and parakeets. After traveling the world, Erika is proud to call Brooklyn home.
