Podcast

Marta Fernandez-Castro, Ed.S., is a retired public-school educator of 32 years. As an educator in Miami, she worked for the first bilingual neighborhood school in the United States.

During her 25 years at Coral Way Bilingual School, her many roles included serving as a bilingual teacher (English/Spanish) grades k-8, tutor as well as ELL liaison, departmental chair, international studies chair, student teacher supervisor, and curriculum writer. 

She spent the last six years at the Miami Department of Public Schools (MDPS) at a magnet high school as assessment and internship coordinator. Her certifications included primary education, Gifted & Talented, and ESOL endorsements.

Kika has a master’s degree in Elementary Education and a specialist degree in Educational Leadership from Barry University in Miami. Her passion has always been to instill the love of learning in multiple languages and modalities. Her experience with all ages across the K-12 spectrum has provided a plethora of experience in student learning and outcomes.

She currently works as an independent educational consultant, with her goal as an educator continuing to be student engagement, whether in person or virtually.

She is a mother of three daughters and resides in the Northeast. She spends off time as an amateur artist and writer, as she is a lifelong learner. 

Carlos Azcoitia,   Dr. Azcoitia served as the Deputy Chief of Education in the Chicago Public Schools.  In this role, he was administratively responsible for a large number of wide-ranging departments, programs and services.  He has been a teacher, administrator, and has served as principal in the Chicago Public Schools. For more information visit https://www.nl.edu/academics/faculty/facultyprofiles/a/azcoitiacarlosnceemeritus/

Carlos Jimenez Flores, a storyteller, poet, author and photographer. A Puerto Rican, born in Chicago, he struggled to assimilate into North American culture. He spent his early childhood in Puerto Rico and learned he was born in Chicago when his family returned on his eighth birthday. A product of divorce, living in poverty, English as a second language learner, survivor of the violence in gang-infested neighborhoods, a high school and college dropout, he lived day to day believing it would be his last since he thought he would not make it to the age of 21. He earned his associates degree from Wright Community College in 2002, where he made the Dean’s List and was invited to become a member of Phi Theta Kappa which is the International Honor Society of Two-Year Colleges. He earned his bachelors in 2006 from Northeastern Illinois University, where he studied Human Resource Development and Sociology. For more information visit https://www.carlosjimenezflores.com/bio

Judith M. Sauri (Judy), is the NABE Treasurer. She served as Principal of Richard Edwards Dual Language Fine and Performing Arts International Baccalaureate (IB) School from 2005 to 2020. Edwards serves over 1,0550 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 Lead Teacher, 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 been instrumental in taking Edwards Elementary to become a Level 1+ school, which is the highest level awarded in Chicago; a Digital Learning Model School; and received the Award of Excellence from the State of Illinois which demonstrates program’s successful implementation of high-quality cultural and linguistic programming for children families of preschool age children. Mrs. Sauri’s education background includes: Two master degrees in Education from the University of Illinois at Chicago; Masters in Educational Leadership; and Administration and Supervision of Schools.

For more information visit https://nabe.org/judith-m-sauri-treasurer/

Marisa Rivera,  Marisa Rivera is President of Mpowerment Works and a social entrepreneur and global citizen who provides dynamic presentations and seminars that captivate the audience and empowers them to become agents of change. She also provides innovative consulting and coaching services on program development tailored to each client needs by empowering people. Throughout her career, Marisa Rivera has shared her experience and personal knowledge on becoming an effective leader in today’s global marketplace in the corporate, government and non-profit sectors as well as in schools, colleges, and universities both in the U.S. and abroad. is the NABE Treasurer.

Roy Juarez Jr., founded the human development company, IMPACTtruth, Inc. in 2005 with a dream to inspire youth and reunite families by sharing his turbulent yet inspirational life story.  Juarez has partnered with national organizations such as the U.S. ARMY, Ford Motor Company Fund, and the United States Hispanic Leadership Institute to inspire thousands of individuals across the United States and abroad. His work has garnered national media attention on outlets such as CNN, Chicken Soup for the Soul, and many local and online publications.

https://www.homelessbychoice.com/speakers/roy-juarez-jr/

Julio Noboa Polanco is a teacher, essayist, columnist, and poet. Polanco devoted himself to understanding the social elements that influence Latino history and their representation in the United States. He started writing poetry at an early age. His first and only published poem “Identity” centers around the themes of individuality and growing up. He is well-known for representing in bright light the history of Latin Americans in the United States.

Elsa Duarte Noboa is a retired Mexican American educator originally from Chicago. She began her 33-year teaching career as a bilingual teacher at Pilsen Academy and the Inter-American Magnet School. In 1985 she and her family moved to San Antonio, TX where she continued teaching at the elementary level at the Edgewood ISD and Northside ISD. Upon receiving her Master’s in Educational Supervision, she began teaching Social Studies at the Middle and High School levels. In 2004, she was hired by U TX at Brownsville and later at UT El Paso (2008) as Lecturer in the College of Education for both the Departments of Curriculum and Instruction. Besides teaching undergraduate classes to pre-service teachers, she was actively involved as a member of educational associations, and later engaged in peace and justice causes.

Angela Valenzuela is a professor in both the Educational Policy and Planning Program within the Department of Educational Administration at the University of Texas at Austin and holds a courtesy appointment in the Cultural Studies in Education Program within the Department of Curriculum & Instruction. She also serves as the director of the University of Texas Center for Education Policy.

A Stanford University graduate, her previous teaching positions were in Sociology at Rice University in Houston, Texas (1990-98), as well as a Visiting Scholar at the Center for Mexican American Studies at the University of Houston (1998-99). She is also the author of award-winning Subtractive Schooling: U.S. Mexican Youth and the Politics of Caring (1999) Leaving Children Behind: How “Texas-style” Accountability Fails Latino Youth (2005), and Growing Critically Conscious Teachers: A Social Justice Curriculum for Educators of Latino/a Youth (Teachers College Press, 2016). She also founded and operates an education blog titled, Educational Equity, Politics, and Policy in Texas.

She served as co-editor of the Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, as well as the Anthropology and Education Quarterly. A previous Fulbright Scholar, Valenzuela spent her 2007-08 academic year in Mexico where she taught in the College of Law at the University of Guanajuato in Guanajuato, Guanajuato and conducted research in the areas of immigration, human rights, and binational relations. Most recently, she was honored to have been selected to be a scholar in residence in the School of Education at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Valenzuela’s research and teaching interests are in the sociology of education, minority youth in schools, educational policy, urban education reform, culturally relevant curriculum, Ethnic Studies, and indigenous education.

Valenzuela also directs the National Latino Education Research and Policy Project (NLERAP) that aims to create a teacher education pathways for Latino/a youth, nationally. With prior funding support from grants from both the Ford and Kellogg Foundations, this work builds on the efforts and advocacy of Latino/a education and business leaders nationwide. NLERAP has been housed at the University of Texas at Austin since November 6, 2009. Locally, she directs Academia Cuauhtli, a partnership-based, community-anchored Saturday school with district-wide Impacts in Austin, Texas.