NABE Central Region Representativeolivia.hernandez@tntp.org Olivia Hernández, Ed.D.Dr. Hernández is a proud and confident Latina who values her Mexican American roots and celebrates her bilingualism and biculturalism every day. She is grateful for being brought up in a nurturing home that valued familia, cultura y educación. Her experience living in both México and the United States has helped form her identity and strengthen her advocacy for English learners as a teacher, principal, and administrator. She is the proud mother of two daughters and two sons who are the sunshine of her life. Dr. Hernández has over 40 years of experience in … Continued

Western Region Representative mmachadocasas@sdsu.edu NABE Eastern Region Representativemcoady@ncsu.eduMaria Coady, Ph.D.Maria Coady is the Goodnight Distinguished Professor in Educational Equity at North Carolina State University (NCSU). Prior to working at NC State, Dr. Coady was a Professor of Multilingual Education at the University of Florida (2003-2022).Dr. Coady’s work examines equity and education for rural multilingual students (ML), their families, and the educators who serve them. She is a national and international scholar, teacher, teacher educator, and advocate for bilingual and multilingual students and families. She consults with the US Department of Justice and Office for Civil Rights.Dr. Coady serves as the … Continued

Western Region Representative mmachadocasas@sdsu.edu Margarita Machado-Casas, Ph.D. Dr. Margarita Machado Casas is a Full Professor in the SDSU Dual Language and English Learner Education Department. She completed her Ph.D. at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and completed the prestigious postdoctoral fellowship at Frank Potter Graham (FPG) Research Institute at Duke University.  She currently serves as the editor of the Critical Issues in Latina/o Education series for Peter Lang Publishers and has recently signed to edit the “Critical Studies of Latinx in the Americas”, and the “Critical issues in Education around the world book series”.  Dr. Machado Casas is also a board member of … Continued

NABE Secretary & Central Region Representative secretary@nabe.org Belinda Trevino Schouten, Ph.D. Dr. Belinda Trevino Schouten has personally lived the experience of having to learn a second, third and even a fourth language and is fully committed to the educational success of Emergent Bilinguals (EBs), their parents, and their teachers. She is the daughter of an immigrant father from the Netherlands and a Mexican American mother—a “Pionera” who dedicated her life to bilingual education. Dr. Schouten grew up speaking Dutch and English at home and for two years attended an International School through NATO in the Netherlands where she learned Dutch, … Continued

NABE Executive Director mailto: nmaguirre@nabe.org As a Cuban immigrant who arrived in the US at the age of 6, Nilda Aguirre is well aware of the challenges facing English Learners. Throughout her career as an educator, Nilda has been driven to improve outcomes for English Learners through the use of best practices, cutting edge strategies, community involvement and advocacy. Nilda has been a NABE member for over 35 years, and as the Executive Director for the National Association for Bilingual Education, she will continue to support NABE’s mission of advocating for educational equity and excellence for bilingual/multilingual students in a … Continued

NABE President & Eastern Region Representative president@nabe.org Evelyn DeJesus, Executive Vice President, AFT, AFL-CIO Since 2019, Evelyn DeJesus has been the executive vice president of the 1.8 million member AFT, the first Latino/a officer in the union’s 109-year history. A skilled teacher and administrator, DeJesus is a forceful advocate for justice—undaunted and unafraid to speak truth to power.   Elected as an AFT vice president in 2014, she co-chairs the AFT Latino Issues Task Force and serves as the presiding officer of the AFT Asian American and Pacific Islander Task Force, the AFT LGBTQIA+ Task Force and the AFT Native … Continued

NABE Treasurer & Member-at-Large judycpaa@gmail.com Judith M. Sauri, M.Ed. Judith M. Sauri (Judy) served as Principal of Richard Edwards Dual Language Fine andPerforming Arts International Baccalaureate (IB) School from 2005 to 2020. Edwards serves over1,0550 students; 95% are of Latino heritage. During the 25 years that Judy has served in Chicago Public Schools (CPS), she has worn many hats: Bilingual Teacher, Assistant Principal, After-School Coordinator, Curriculum Design Team Member, ESL Resource Teacher, Bilingual LeadTeacher, presenter and staff development liaison, Dean of Students, Disciplinarian, Programmer and Schedule Coordinator, Parent Coordinator, and grant writer; just to name a few. Her transformational leadership skills have … Continued

NABE Central Region Representative ssoltero@depaul.edu Sonia W. Soltero, Ph.D. Sonia W. Soltero is Professor and Chair of the Department of Leadership, Language, and Curriculum, former Director of the Bilingual-Bicultural Education Graduate Program at DePaul University in Chicago, and former bilingual and dual language teacher and program coordinator. Soltero has numerous publications on dual language, bilingual education and Latino education, including her more recent books: Dual Language Education: Program Design and Implementation and School-Wide Approaches to Educating English Language Learners. She has been involved in dual language and bilingual education for more than thirty years as a dual language teacher, university professor, professional developer, and researcher. Soltero as extensive … Continued