Speakers

Dr. Kathy Escamilla is a Professor Emeritus of Education in the Division of Equity, Bilingualism and Biliteracy at the University of Colorado, Boulder and a long-time affiliate of the BUENO Center at CU Boulder. Dr. Escamilla received her PhD from the University of California at Los Angeles a long time ago. Dr. Escamilla’s research focuses on issues related to the development of bilingualism and biliteracy for Spanish-speaking emerging bilingual children in US schools. Her research has also examined assessment practices for emerging bilingual learners in elementary and early childhood education. She has authored seven books and over 50 research articles on topics related to (bi)literacy for Spanish-speaking children in the U.S. Her early work included the reconceptualization of an early reading program known as Reading Recovery from English to Spanish for emergent bilingual learners in US schools. The reconceptualization was not a literal translation, rather a creation of the Reading Recovery program in Spanish considering the internal structure of Spanish. The Spanish program was titled “Descubriendo la lectura,” (DLL) and she was involved with a team of educators who recreated the assessment program for DLL as well as the instructional program. Important in the assessment recreation was the view that children’s use of two languages in early literacy assessment should be viewed as assets rather than deficits. Dr. Escamilla was lead author on a book about early reading biliteracy assessment for Spanish speaking emergent bilingual students titled: Instrumento de Observación de los Logros de la Lecto- escritura Inicial. The book is in its14th printing and was an early work that centered the theory of holistic bilingualism/biliteracy in the creation of the assessment tasks and measurement rubrics for Spanish speaking children in US schools. Since 2004, Dr. Escamilla has been involved in a research project titled, “Literacy Squared: Lecto-escritura al cuadrado.” This project was designed for children in elementary grades and has most recently been modified for early childhood classrooms. It has been implemented in 6 states with over 5,000 students and 400 teachers. Literacy Squared has four components: 1) Assessment; 2) Professional Development; 3) Instruction; and 4) Research. The assessment component developed a system titled, “Developing Trajectories toward Biliteracy,” that utilizes what children know in two languages to assess literacy strengths and needs and again is theoretically centered on holistic bilingualism/biliteracy. Dr. Escamilla has been the lead author on one book related to Literacy Squared titled: Biliteracy from the Start: Literacy Squared in Action and is co-author on a second book titled: Biliterate Writing from the Start. Literacy Squared has published over 20 research articles related to the development of bilingualism and biliteracy in early childhood. Finally, Dr. Escamilla has served two terms as the President of the National Association for Bilingual Education, and one term as the Chair of the Bilingual Special interest group at AERA. Her best professional memories however are from being a bilingual teacher in Colorado and California. She has been married to the love of her life, Manuel, for 52 years, and has two children and 4 grandchildren

Laurie Olsen, Ph.D., is the founding Director and now Strategic Advisor to SEAL (a P-6 model of English Learner-centered language and literacy education. She serves on the Executive Board of Californians Together, and is on the Steering Committee of the National Committee on Effective Literacy. Dr. Olsen has published dozens of books, policy briefs and articles on English Learner education, produced many videos on English learner education, and for five decades has researched, written, advocated and provided leadership development and technical assistance on educational equity with an emphasis on immigrant, English Learner and bilingual education. For 23 years, she directed California Tomorrow’s work in PK-12 education with a focus on immigrants and English learners. Dr. Olsen holds a Ph.D. in Social and Cultural Studies in Education from U.C. Berkeley.

Prior to founding Cardona Solutions, Miguel dedicated close to three decades serving the community as a teacher, award-winning school principal, district leader, Commissioner of Education for Connecticut, and US Secretary of Education. As the 12th US Secretary of Education, Cardona focused on safely reopening and reimagining schools, overhauling higher education accountability, improving access and affordability to higher education, and providing upward economic mobility to more students across the country. Cardona has been a featured speaker at UCLA, University of Texas, Austin, Yale, Harvard, and many other colleges and universities of all sizes across the country. He has partnered with the Brookings Institute, Newsweek, and TIME magazine to chronicle the importance of public education and bring much needed attention to the challenges facing our students at this critical time. Miguel currently serves on the boards of the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz and the USC Schwarzenegger Institute of Policy. He is a Resident Fellow at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and will be a fellow in the School of Management at Yale University in 2026. He earned his Bachelor's degree from Central Connecticut State University, followed by his Master's, Professional and Executive Certifications, and Ed. D. from the University of Connecticut. Miguel was also awarded two Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degrees from Southern CT State University and Thaddues Stevens College in PA. Yet, his greatest accomplishment is the family he built with his wife, Marissa, an educator, and their two college-aged children.

Dr. Julie Washington is a Professor and Interim Dean in the School of Education at the University ofCalifornia – Irvine (UCI). She is a Speech-Language Pathologist and is a Fellow of the American Speech Language Hearing Association. Dr. Washington directs the California Learning Disabilities Research Innovation Hub at UCI. She is also director of the Language Variation and Academic Success lab. Her research is focused on the intersection of literacy, language variation, and poverty in African American children from preschool through fifth grades. In particular, her work focuses on understanding the role of cultural dialect in assessment outcomes, identification of reading disabilities in school-aged African American children, and on disentangling the relationship between language production and comprehension in development of early reading and language skills for children growing up in poverty. Currently, she is working on development of assessment protocols for use with high density dialect speakers that are designed to improve our ability to measure their linguistic competence. This work is funded by the National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders of the National Institutes of Health.

Nell K. Duke is considered one of the nation’s foremost experts in early literacy. Duke is Executive Director of the Center for Early Literacy and Learning Success at Stand for Children and Professor of Education and Psychology at the Marsal Family School of Education at the University of Michigan. Her career has been focused on the right to literacy, particularly the ways in which early childhood (birth through age eight) education can lay groundwork for a lifetime of literacy success. Early in her career, Duke interwove experiences teaching and pursuing degrees, eventually earning masters and doctoral degrees in human development and psychology, with a concentration in language and literacy, from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education. Her research, teaching, writing, professional development, and engagement with policymakers aim to bridge gaps between research, policy, and practice in early literacy education. Duke’s work has been funded by the Institute of Education Sciences, the National Science Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, the Kellogg Foundation, the Heising-Simons Foundation, and the George Lucas Educational Foundation, among other organizations. Among the awards Duke has received are the International Reading Association Dissertation Award, the American Educational Research Association Early Career Award, the National Reading Conference Early Career Achievement Award, the Dina Feitelson Research Award, the Literacy Research Association P. David Pearson Scholarly Influence Award, and the International Literacy Association’s highest honor, the William S. Gray Citation of Merit for outstanding contributions to literacy research, theory, policy, and practice. She has been named one of the most influential education scholars in the U.S. in EdWeek, served on the advisory board for PBSKIDS, is a senior advisor for Amira Learning, is Co-Director of the Great First Eight Curriculum, and is an elected member of the National Academy of Education. You can follow Duke’s work at nellkduke.org.

Jody Slavick is the Director of Literacy Squared®, housed within the BUENO Center for Multicultural Education at the University of Colorado Boulder. She first began working with the Literacy Squared framework in 2008 as a district educator. Inspired by its powerful impact on multilingual learners, she pursued her Ph.D. in Equity, Bilingualism and Biliteracy at CU Boulder and joined the Literacy Squared team full time. She also holds an M.A. in Bilingual Special Education from CU Boulder. Her early career included roles as a dual language coach, district ESL/dual language TOSA, middle school ESL and Spanish language arts teacher, elementary bilingual teacher, and adult ESL instructor. Her research interests include instructional practices that promote biliteracy, bilingual teacher advocacy, and professional learning for educators of multilingual students.

Dr. Sonia Soltero is Professor of Bilingual Education in the Department of Leadership, Language, and Curriculum at DePaul University, where she has served both as Department Chair and Director of the Bilingual-Bicultural Education Graduate Program. She is a former dual language teacher and coordinator in the Tucson Unified School District—serving the Pascua Yaqui Tribe—and in Chicago Public Schools. Soltero’s scholarly work on bilingual and dual language education, biliteracy, and Latino education have been published in English, Spanish, and French, and include numerous articles, book chapters, research briefs, and three books, the latest titled Dual Language Education: Program Design and Implementation. Soltero is co-founder and current co-chair of the English Learners Advocacy Council in Higher Education (ELACHE), Board member of Advance Illinois, and member of the National Committee on Effective Literacy. She has been appointed to numerous state, national, and international commissions and advisory councils and has collaborated with over 100 schools and 40 school districts, as well as governmental education agencies across the United States and internationally.

Margarita Espino Calderón, PhD, is a professor emerita and senior research scientist at Johns Hopkins University School of Education. Her research and professional development focus on integrating language, reading comprehension, and content knowledge to improve K–12 English learner achievement. She served on the National Literacy Panel for English Learners (2006 & 2008) and the Carnegie Panel for Adolescent English Learners (2007). Her research has been funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s IES and OELA, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the U.S. Department of Labor, and in collaboration with Harvard and CAL by NICHD. She has authored over 100 publications and is a national and international speaker. She has been inducted into the Multilingual Education Hall of Fame.

Magaly Lavadenz, Ph.D. is Leavey Presidential Endowed Chair in Moral and Ethical Leadership and founding Executive Director of the Center for Equity for English Learners in the School of Education at Loyola Marymount University. Her research addresses the intersections and impact of policies and practices for culturally and linguistically diverse students, their teachers and school leaders. Her work is published in numerous articles, chapters, and books, including Latino Civil Rights in Education: La Lucha Sigue, with Anaida Colón Muñiz and Questioning our Practices: Bilingual Teacher-Researchers and Transformative Inquiry. She began her teaching career as a bilingual paraprofessional and has served in a variety of roles in K-12 settings, including as a bilingual teacher and English as a Second Language Specialist. Magaly has also served in statewide leadership positions, including as past president of the California Council on Teacher Education, Californians Together, the California Association for Bilingual Education, and as founding president of the California Association of Bilingual Teacher Educators, and serves on local, state and national education advisory boards.

Ana Taboada Barber is Professor of Education in the College of Education at the University of Maryland. Ana studies reading comprehension and reading motivation in Emergent Bilingual (EBs) and bilingual students. Her work centers on studying the influence of specific motivational and cognitive factors on the literacy and language development of elementary and middle school students. As a former English as a Second Language teacher, Ana's work in reading comprehension development is principally concentrated within the population of Spanish-speaking EBs in the United States and in South America. Recently she has also worked with English- French bilingual students in France. Ana has also turned her attention to the possible roles that executive function skills play in the cognition of EBs students in dual-language and language immersion schools. She has received Institute of Education Sciences (IES) Exploration Grants (2016-2024) to investigate the roles that executive functions and degree of bilingualism play in the reading comprehension of K to 5 EB students in English-only and in bilingual schools. In the past three years Ana has also served on the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Knowledge Matters Campaign.

Dr Aguirre-Muñoz holds a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles, and two BAs in Psychology and Spanish from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is currently a Professor in the Department of Cognitive and Information Sciences Sciences at the University of California, Merced. Over the course of her career, she has carried out extensive research related to bilingual education. Her research is interdisciplinary and at the intersection of cognition, learning, assessment, and language development of bilinguals at the K-16 level. Her key research interests include bilingualism, STEM teaching and learning, increasing student engagement and achievement in K-16 contexts, and literacy development for dual language learners. Her work, which has appeared in numerous journals and books, has been funded by multiple funding agencies such as the National Science Foundation, the Department of Education, National Institute of Health Sciences, as well as non-profit foundations including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Lillian Ardell, Ph.D., is a speaker, coach, and the founder of Language Matters, LLC, an educational consulting firm. As a sociolinguist and trained qualitative researcher, she blends theory, practice, and adult learning principles to design transformative activities and coaching cycles focused on equity and teacher empowerment. Known for her engaging style, she incorporates humor, poetry, and even dance into her presentations. Disrupting the Monolingual Bias is her first book and represents a significant effort to challenge mainstream, deficit perspectives about bilingual learners.

Dr. Laura Ascenzi-Moreno is a Professor of Bilingual Education at Brooklyn College, CUNY. Her research focuses on emergent bilinguals’ literacy development, teacher knowledge, and equity. She serves on the Elementary Section Steering Committee of NCTE and has published in Literacy Research and Instruction, The Reading Teacher, Literacy Research Journal, Language Arts, and other journals. She is co-author, with Dr. Cecilia Espinosa, of Rooted in Strength: Using Translanguaging to Grow Multilingual Readers and Writers (Scholastic, 2021).

Dr Keira Ballantyne has almost twenty years of experience as an applied linguist at the intersection of language and culture in the United States. Her work has focused on practical applications of research in instruction, professional development, evaluation, and assessment. As VP for programs and development, Dr. Ballantyne oversees CAL’s program areas which include adult language education, PreK-12 language and literacy, dual language and multilingual education, testing and assessment, and world languages. She provides leadership in connecting critical issues in language education policy, research, practice, and assessment to CAL’s mission, initiatives, and activities. She currently serves as Co-PI on a Competitive State Assessment Grant led by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

Dr. Meg Burns (she/ella) is a DLBE expert and advocate whose experiences as a teacher, researcher, and teacher educator shape her current work as Director of Professional Learning with MABE. Before joining MABE’s staff, Meg was Associate Professor of TESOL and Bilingual Education and Program Director of Early Childhood Education at Lesley University, where she prepared ESL, Bilingual, and Early Childhood teachers and conducted research in local Dual Language schools. She began her career as a first grade teacher in a public Spanish Immersion Dual Language school and later served as a graduate assistant on the Literacy Squared team, delivering biliteracy professional development around the country. She is the co-developer of LibrosforLanguage.org, an online repository of translanguaging picture-books, and has been a member of the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education's English Learner and Bilingual Advisory Council. Meg has previously served as Board Member, President, and Consultant for MABE, contributing to regional advocacy activities and DLBE technical assistance. She currently serves as Faculty Coordinator for the National Dual Language Certificate as part of MABE’s Project SEMBRAR, a federally funded bilingual teacher mentorship program. She holds a B.A. from Vassar College, an M.A. in Applied Linguistics from the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and a Ph.D. in Educational Equity and Cultural Diversity from the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Doris Chávez-Linville is a bilingual educator, researcher, and advocate with deep roots in dual-language education and migrant student support. She began her teaching career in Mexico before continuing in Pennsylvania as a Migrant Education instructor, following her B.A. in Linguistics from the University of Mary Washington. Now serving as Senior Director of Linguistic and Culturally Diverse Innovation at Renaissance, Doris leads national efforts to design equitable assessment tools for multilingual learners. A doctoral candidate at the University of Pennsylvania, her research centers on biliteracy development, equity in educational assessment, and leadership for systemic change. Doris is a sought-after speaker and published writer, presenting nationally and internationally on topics such as biliteracy trajectories, culturally responsive leadership, and advancing educational equity through policy and practice.

Azul is a father, husband, and educator committed to comunidad. A Doctoral Student at UNM’s Language Literacy and Socio-cultural Studies, his research focuses on maintaining and revitalizing heritage languages through cultural identity. Azul has worked in numerous Indigenous communities with linguistically and culturally diverse youths and families, fostering relationships with Native communities in California, South Dakota, and in New Mexico. He maintains a strong relationship with La Plazita Institute in Albuquerque and with Homeboy Industries in East Los Angeles, two organizations that dedicate services to adjudicated youths and young adults. Azul currently serves as Director of Heritage Languages for Dual Language Educators of New Mexico. With nearly thirty years of teaching experience, Azul holds Master Degrees in Bilingual Education and Secondary Education from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles and in Special Education from NM Highlands University.

Dr. Jessica Costa has spent over 20 years helping students develop a love of language and learning, and supporting educators through coaching and professional learning across the U.S. and abroad. A former National Board Certified teacher in English as a New Language, she now serves as Director of Multilingual Learner Advancement with a national non-profit, where she focuses on strengthening leadership and instruction to support integrated language and literacy development, especially for multilingual learners.

Jorge Cuevas Antillón is a renowned multilingualism advocate, dual language educator, professional learning facilitator, curriculum designer and school/district consultant. He is also an author of two of California’s state-board adopted language arts series, and a third supplementary literacy series for primary grades, in both Spanish and English. Currently, Jorge supports schools as the District Advisor for Curriculum and Instruction at the San Diego County Office of Education. He also enjoys being the national and statewide steward for Common Core en español, official home of the language arts standards and mathematics standards in Spanish. Jorge moonlights on occasion at the San Diego State University College of Education as a collaborative partner and part-time adjunct faculty where he prepares teacher credential candidates for their biliteracy classrooms. In his spare time, Jorge works with several scholarship committees fundraising for multilingual college-bound students across San Diego County.

Dr. Flores is a pioneer Latina scholar Activist and Leader, Teacher Educator, Children’s Literature Writer, and International Expert in the areas of literacy and biliteracy development, teaching/learning based on Vygotsky’s sociocultural theoretical framework, professional staff development, bilingual education, and critical pedagogy. Not only has she published her work in professional journals, books, and chapters, but she is also a sought after keynote speaker throughout the Americas. She has been a professor since 1980 and recently retired in September of 2019. She is currently a Professor Emerita at California State University, San Bernardino. ​Dr. Flores holds and has held a number of leadership positions. Most recently she was appointed by California State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tony Thurmond, to be a Co-Chair of his statewide Literacy & Biliteracy Initiative. She was also appointed to be on the Biden-Harris National Education Committee to develop and make recommendations on education policy. She Co-Chaired the National Education Diversity Subcommittee. She has been on San Bernardino City School Board since 2008 and served as Vice President and President. She was reelected in 2013 and 2017 with her term ending in November 2022. Currently she is the Past President on California Latino School Boards Association from 2018-2022; served as President of CLSBA from 2014-2018 and also served as Vice President from 2010-2014. She is also currently on the Executive Board of the California Association for Bilingual Education serving as CABE President 2021-2023 and Immediate Past President 2023-2024. She also has served on the CABE Board of Directors as the Higher Education & Secondary Director, the Community Affairs Director and the Finance Director, 2024-2025 and 2025-2027. In addition, she was past President of the National Association for Bilingual Education in 2006-2007.

Rubí Flores M.A. is an immigrant to the US. She earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Bilingual Education from Texas State University and a Master’s Degree in Bilingual and Bicultural Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Texas at Austin. She has worked in schools as a biliteracy educator and as a national and international professional development provider. Her current work focuses on developing teacher capacity, coaching, implementing authentic methods for biliteracy instruction, and designing effective strategies for Spanish and English academic language development. She is also a co-author of “Breaking Down the Monolingual Wall: Essential Shifts for Multilingual Learners′ Success.” She currently serves as the Director of the Learning, Engagement, Advocacy, and Development (LEAD) department for the California Association for Bilingual Education.

In her role as Executive Director, Phyllis Hardy (she/ella) facilitates professional learning with educators of schools, districts, and state education agencies. She has over 40 years experience working in the field of bilingual education as a bilingual special educator and a bilingual classroom teacher. Prior to MABE, she was an Equity and Diversity Specialist for the Northeast Equity Assistance Center at The Education Alliance at Brown University working with schools, districts, and state education agencies on English Learner policy, program structure, instruction, and assessment. She is a founding member of the MA Language Opportunity Coalition, which successfully advocated for the LOOK Act. She is co-author of the Guidance for Implementing Dual Language Education and Transitional Bilingual Education Programs (MA DESE 2023). She holds a B.A in English Literature and a M.Ed. in Special Education. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Phyllis is bilingual in Spanish and English.

Dr. Michanne Hoctor is ELA Coordinator for San Diego County Office of Education, supporting a statewide literacy acceleration grant focused on improving early literacy outcomes for our most vulnerable, including ELs and students with disabilities. Her 30+ year career includes: TK-8 literacy coach, Reading Recovery, teaching in both middle and elementary classrooms, and a doctoral degree in Educational Technology. She was honored with the Literacy Educator of the Year 2002 by the GSDRA. She is passionate about equity, and the empowerment of teachers towards authentic learning opportunities that are based on student strengths. She inspires educators through reflecting on teaching and learning within the classroom, while offering practical solutions you can use with your own students. 

Sarah Howard is a doctoral student at Oregon State University pursuing a PhD in Education – Language, Equity and Educational Policy. She has worked in a variety of English language teaching contexts, including intensive English programs and volunteer work abroad, and currently serves on various research projects investigating adult and K-12 English language teaching contexts alongside ESOL teacher preparation programs. Her research interests include English and dual language teacher training, equity in English language pedagogy, matters of identity in the language teaching context, and family literacy and engagement. Sarah Howard served as an intern with the Center for Applied Linguistics in the spring of 2025.

Joan Lachance, PhD, is an associate professor and director of the Teaching English as a Second Language Master of Arts, Graduate Certificate and Undergraduate Minor programs at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She received her undergraduate degree in Secondary Education, Modern Languages and Linguistics from Florida International University. With Spanish as the language of program delivery, she completed graduate coursework to earn her Master’s degree in School Counseling from Pontifical Catholic University in Poncé, Puerto Rico. Dr. Lachance completed her doctoral work in Curriculum and Instruction, with an emphasis on Urban Education, Literacy, and TESL at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Dr. Lachance’s research agenda encompasses dual language teacher preparation, academic literacy development, and authentic assessment with multilanguage learners. Dr. Lachance is the co-author of the National Dual Language Education Teacher Preparations Standards and is beginning to specialize her research further into the area of co-teaching for English learners in DL programs as well as dual language education for the preservation of Native American languages. In addition to her faculty position, Dr. Lachance’s service agenda supports the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, North Carolina school districts, and districts nation-wide. Her service specializes in professional development for teachers, school counselors, and school administrators. This also includes North Carolina state-led initiatives including Dual Language/Immersion Program Support, Co-Teaching and Collaboration for ELs, Using the WIDA Standards, The North Carolina Guide to the SIOP Model, and Active Student Engagement for Multilingualism. For fun, Dr. Lachance enjoys camping with her husband Carl, their teenage son, and their three rescue dogs. She is passionate about science, astronomy, the outdoors, hiking in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and the preservation of the Appalachian Trail. While she lives and works in North Carolina, she shares her heart deeply with New Mexico and, has a passion for the preservation of Native American Languages (and everything Hatch green chilies).

Dr. Lara is the CEO of Seidlitz Education, as well as a Keynote speaker, and the author of ¡Toma la palabra!: Enlazando la oralidad y la lectoescritura and The Structure of a Reading Test in Grade 1: In Search of a Relationship with Reading in Spanish. She is also the co-author of ELLs in Texas: What Teachers Need to Know and ELs in Texas: What School Leaders Need to Know. She has been in education for over thirty years. Her roles in education include experience as a teacher, reading specialist, assistant principal, and educational specialist in the areas of dyslexia and bilingual/ESL education. Dr. Lara is a recipient of the 2019 Future School Leaders Leadership Legacy Award, a testament to her commitment and belief in teaching all learners. Dr. Lara’s biliterate and bicultural belief system is engaging, invigorating, and refreshing when she delivers her signature message: Enseñanza para todos (teaching for all). She holds a Masters of Arts degree in reading and a Ph.D. in Culture, Literacy, and Language. Her research interests include early reading assessments, biliteracy education, and English as a second language.

Amelia Larson serves as Chief Academic Officer at Summit K12, where she leads efforts to advance multiliteracy and access to high-quality instruction. She is known for her dedication to fostering equitable outcomes and driving transformative change in K-12 education. Her career is marked by a steadfast commitment for blending the pragmatic—“How can we do our work better for multilingual learners and the educators who serve them today?”—with the visionary—“What might learning - and the systems that support language development -look like in the not-too-distant future?” She previously served as an Assistant Superintendent in Florida and spearheaded a district-wide implementation of the Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) framework, demonstrating her commitment to systemic improvement. As a national consultant, Amelia has provided professional development and support to schools, districts, national organizations, and state Departments of Education. Her work centers on building systems of opportunity, grounded in collaboration, evidence-based practice, and a deep commitment to helping every child and educator reach their personal Summit.

Margo Gottlieb, Ph.D., co-founder and lead developer of WIDA at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, collaborates in designing standards frameworks and their derivative assessment and instructional tools. She has been honored by TESOL International Association for her significant contributions to the field and Summit K12 as an inaugural inductee into the Multilingual Education Hall of Fame. A prolific author/ co-author on language power and classroom assessment, Margo's publications include 22 books (7 bestsellers), the latest being Academic Languaging: Engaging Multilingual Students in Content Area Learning (with Ernst-Slavit, 2026).

Dr. Hector Montenegro, President/CEO of Montenegro Consulting Group, LLC, former Senior District Advisor for CASEL and currently a Senior Associate for Margarita Calderon and Associates. He currently works with districts and administrators nationally and internationally on systemic implementation of SEL, instructional strategies for English Learners, leadership development, language and literacy, instructional coaching, and parent engagement. Dr. Montenegro has been a math teacher, principal, Chief of Staff and Superintendent of three school districts in Texas. He is an internationally recognized speaker and presenter throughout the US and abroad. He has been an educational advisor to Chile, Peru, Guatemala and Saudi Arabia through the U.S. State Department. He also serves on several national boards including New York City's The Leadership Academy (TLA) and Transformative Educational Leadership (TEL). He obtained his masters from Stanford University and doctorate from the UT at Austin.

Diep Nguyen (Ph. D.) is the President and CEO of the Center of Applied Linguistics (CAL) leading a team of researchers and educational leaders to advocate for and support multilingual education policies and practices in the US and elsewhere. Prior to joining CAL, she served as Director of Research and Educator Learning, and subsequently as Senior Director of Research and Academic Outreach for WIDA at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Natalie Olague is a Professional Development Coordinator at Dual Language Education of New Mexico (DLeNM) and a certified Project GLAD® Trainer. With three decades of experience in dual language and bilingual education, Natalie has dedicated her career to supporting students, educators, and communities in developing bilingualism, biliteracy, and sociocultural competence. For the past seven years at DLeNM, she has coordinated and facilitated Dual Language Bilingual Education (DLBE) leadership offerings—including school visits, planning retreats, and customized support—as well as OCDE Project GLAD® training across New Mexico and throughout the country. Natalie is also a contributing author of the Guiding Principles for Dual Language Education, 3rd Edition (2018) and is deeply committed to serving culturally and linguistically diverse communities. A native of Albuquerque, Natalie earned both her B.S. and M.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of New Mexico and began her professional journey at Sandia National Laboratories before discovering her passion for education. She and her husband make their home in Albuquerque’s South Valley, where she enjoys long walks in the Bosque and spending time with her adult children and grandchildren.

Nancy Rodas De Leon is a PhD candidate in the Psychological Sciences Department at the University of California, Merced. She was a Faculty Mentor Program (FMP) Graduate Research Fellow in 2023-2024. She earned an M.A. in Psychological Sciences and holds a B.S. in Cognitive Science. Her research broadly investigates how lifelong bilingual language experience shapes the neural mechanisms supporting attention, working memory updating, conflict monitoring, and phonological processing in young adulthood. She is particularly interested in how language use patterns, code-switching behaviors, and both objective and subjective measures of language proficiency modulate neural processing, as measured through electroencephalography and event-related potentials (EEG/ERPs). Moreover, she aims to explore the relationship between patterns of language use and phonological encoding in Spanish Heritage speakers, with implications for their literacy outcomes in both Spanish and English.

David is a founding member of Dual Language Education of New Mexico, and is a respected national leader who works with regional and national partners like the National Association for English Learner Program Administrators, Educators for a Multilingual Multicultural America and others to develop resources like the National Dual Language Education Teacher Preparation Standards, and Guiding Principles for Dual Language Education. For nearly four decades, David has been an advocate for culturally and linguistically diverse communities. He has served as a volunteer program coordinator in Peace Corps Paraguay, a special education teacher in South Bronx, NY, and a dual language teacher, program coordinator, and school principal in Albuquerque’s South Valley. In 1996 David and his colleagues organized the first La Cosecha Dual Language Conference, hosted by DLeNM, where he served as its first Executive Director from 1999 until 2022. David is husband to dual language educator Rosie González-Rogers, and together they have four bilingual/multicultural daughters and call Albuquerque, New Mexico their home.

Cristina Sanchez-Lopez has been a bilingual educator for 30 years. She is currently co-president at Paridad Education Consulting working nationally and internationally on issues related to multilingual education. Cristina collaborates with educators on developing culturally and linguistically sustaining multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS); mathematics; literacy across the content areas; multilingual education; engaging parents, multilingual learners with special educational needs, and supporting Pre-K educators who serve young multilingual learners. Cristina has taught at the elementary, middle school and university levels in the US and Mexico. At present, Cristina teaches graduate and undergraduate courses at DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois. For more than 20 years Cristina and her colleague, Theresa Young (Speech-Language Pathologist, Ontario, Canada) have collaborated to support school problem-solving teams as they develop more culturally and linguistically sustaining learning environments. Cristina is a co-author on: Special Education Considerations for Multilingual Learners: Delivering a continuum of services (Caslon Publishing, 3rd edition 2023); a book in the Oxford University Press Key Concepts series: Focus on Special Educational Needs (October 2018), and a recent white paper titled Welcoming Bilingual Learners with Disabilities into Dual Language Programs with the Center for Applied Linguistics (2022) as well as various articles and chapters that address multilingual education. Cristina and her husband raised their daughter bilingually.

Dr. Kim Strong is an Assistant Research Professor at the BUENO Center for Multicultural Education at the University of Colorado Boulder. She holds a PhD in Equity, Bilingualism, and Biliteracy, and her research focuses on the intersection of education policy, equity, and accountability for emergent bilingual students. Dr. Strong applies critical quantitative and qualitative methods to examine systemic disparities in public education, particularly around segregation, language access, and the impacts of literacy reform on multilingual learners. 

Elissa Washburn (she/ella) brings over 15 years experience in DLBE, beginning her career as a third grade Dual Language teacher facilitating in Spanish. She has since worked in Dual Language as both a classroom teacher and ESL/ELD teacher from second to fifth grade, as well as a Dual Language coach. She offers professional development opportunities for Dual Language educators through sessions on Dual Language-specific pedagogies such as oracy and cross linguistic transfer strategies, as well as mentoring and coaching for Dual Language coaches and teacher leaders. She is bilingual in English and Spanish.

Cory joined SEAL in 2017 after spending the previous 20 years examining nonviolence, community building, youth development, play and restorative justice. This work included directing a community-based youth leadership program, teaching women and girls self-defense, developing sports-based youth development curricula and being part of multiple community efforts to introduce California school districts to restorative justice. Before joining SEAL Cory worked as a restorative justice consultant, originally with Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth, the group that introduced restorative justice to Oakland. She also worked extensively with Creative Educational Consultants and the LAUSD and Piedmont Unified Restorative Justice roll-out effort. Cory received her MA in Education from San Francisco State University.

Theresa Young began her career as a speech-language pathologist on the Pacific Island of Saipan, in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands where she worked with multilingual students and families in home, school and early years settings. She faciliated a team of SLPs who collaborated with native language speakers to develop culturally and linguistically responsive assessment and intervention practices for Pacific Islanders. Since returning to Canada, Theresa worked with students and families in highly diverse urban schools, rural and First Nation schools. Theresa’s clinical practice has included preschool, school age and adult populations in education, health care and community settings. She has also worked as a literacy coach with preschool and school age children with a focus on language revitalization, and a second language instructor for children and adults in Saipan, Canada and Israel. Theresa continues to collaborate with colleagues in Canada and the United States to provide professional learning opportunities and coauthor publications on multicultural, multilingual topics in education.