Dana McDermott, Ph.D., CFLE is a member of the Faculty of The School for New Learning at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois. She received her doctorate in human development and social psychology from Loyola University of Chicago. She is also a nationally certified family life educator. Her work has focused on child, parent and family development. In Chicago she has been involved in minority parent leadership and in implementing parent education for children and their parents in K-12 schools. She joined the faculty at DePaul in 2002 and teaches classes on parent-child development in cultural context to undergraduate and graduate students. Recently she has developed a customized focus area of Parenting Education and Support within the School for New Learning’s Master of Arts in Applied Professional Studies. She serves on two national boards: Prepare Tomorrow’s Parents and the National Parenting Education Network, dedicated to supporting professionals in their work with parents. She is on the advisory board of the Midwest Learning Center of Family Focus. She consults with schools and parent groups nationally and internationally (most recently in Australia) in the areas of parenting, gender relationships, teaching caring, social and emotional development and violence prevention.  She is a member of several professional organizations including the Illinois and National Council on Family Relations and Psychologists for Social Responsibility.