The mission of the NABE Language Ambassadors is to welcome a diverse group of language communities to join and enrich our NABE family. We aspire to:
- Share our languages, cultures and heritage with our wide audiences
- Advocate for equitable policies in educational, social, and societal settings
- Empower all stakeholders: students, parents, teachers and administrators so that all voices are heard and appreciated
- Recruit and support diverse members and highlight the maintenance, development and revitalization of less commonly taught languages and varieties through outreach, research, and education.
- Cultivate leadership for ALL language communities in order to sustain and develop their ethno-linguistic resources
Through our work as community members and advocates, we are committed to promoting multilingualism, multiculturalism, and multiliteracies, strengthening and supporting the perspectives and educational opportunities for our languages, language varieties, and cultures. We pledge to develop a context of mutual respect and appreciation, within NABE and more broadly throughout our educational institutions, associations, and beyond.
Language Ambassadors Group Leadership
Current Joint chairs:
Dr. Hanan Matari, Mariano Azuela Elementary School
Arabic Varieties
hhmatari@cps.edu
&
Margarita Ramos, Ph.D., Global Education Group and EDUX
Spanish
maramos.geg@gmail.com
Co-chair:
Edward Park, Global Languages and Innovative Programs at Poway Unified School District
Korean
epark@powayusd.com
Advisory Board Chair:
Madji Fall, Ph.D., Kean University
Wolof and African Languages
mfall@kean.edu
Language Ambassador Mentor:
Miriam Eisenstein Ebsworth, Ph.D., New York University Steinhardt
miriam.ebsworth@nyu.edu
NABE Language Ambassadors
Nooshan Ashtari, Ph.D., University of Southern California
Persian/Farsi
nashtari@usc.edu nooshanashtari@yahoo.com
Theresa Austin, Ph.D., University of Massachusetts Amherst
Japanese & Okinawan
taustin@umass.edu; taustin@educ.umass.edu; taustin@educ.umass.edu
Jennie DeGroat, Northern Arizona University
Diné/ Navajo Language
Jennie.Degroat@nau.edu
Madji Fall, Ph.D., Kean University
Wolof and African Languages
mfall@kean.edu
Kayla Guyett, Washington Tribes
Indigenous Languages
kayla.guyett@k12.wa.us
Talia Hurwich, Drexel University
Hebrew
talia.hurwich@gmail.com
Dr. Hanan Matari, Mariano Azuela Elementary School
Arabic Varieties
hhmatari@cps.edu
Fernando Naiditch, Ph.D., Montclair State University
Portuguese
naiditchf@montclair.edu
Sophie Othman, Ph.D., Université de Franche-Comté, Besancon, France
French
sophie.othman@univ-fcomte.fr
Edward Park, Global Languages and Innovative Programs at Poway Unified School District
Korean
epark@powayusd.com
Rosa Maria Pietanza, New York University
Italian
rosa.pietanza@nyu.edu
Margarita Ramos, Ph.D., Global Education Group and EDUX
Spanish
maramos.geg@gmail.com
Dr. Yiquiang Wu, The College of New Jersey
Chinese Languages
wuyiqian@tcnj.edu