Su Kyong Isakson MA, NIC, Ed:K-12, is an Associate Professor in the Interpreter Preparation Program at the Community College of Baltimore County in Catonsville, MD, where she has been faculty since 2016. She began her interpreting career in 2009, having worked in community, education, conference, performance, and business settings. Graduating in 2016 from Western Oregon University's Masters in Interpreting Studies program with an emphasis in teaching, her areas of interest include curriculum design and teaching strategies of heritage signers of ASL in ASL and interpreter training programs, as well as the sociocultural impacts of professional identity development among Coda (children of deaf adults) interpreters. The daughter of Deaf South Korean immigrants, Su Kyong’s heritage languages are Korean Sign Language and Korean. Her contributions include Heritage Signers: language profile questionnaire (2016), and The Case for Heritage ASL Instruction for Hearing Heritage Signers (2018), "Between Two Worlds, I am Whole" in We are Codas - Between the World of Hearing and the World of Silence (pp. 347-388), an anthology of South Korean Coda stories, and Infusing Social Justice in Interpreter Education (2023). Ms. Isakson is co-founder of The Coda Network, an online learning community for Codas seeking personal and professional development.

Candace Jones is an experienced educator, advocate, and change agent with over 16 years of involvement in the Deaf, Black and Brown Deaf, and Deaf with Disabilities educational communities. She currently serves as the director of Gallaudet University's newly established Heritage Sign Languages Center (HSLC), which operates under the office of the Chief Bilingual Officer. Candace's primary objective for the HSLC is to offer multicultural family and education services in diverse settings such as schools, training sessions, conferences, workshops, and community events. She firmly believes in equal rights for all individuals, regardless of race, sexual orientation, religion, gender, disability, or ethnicity. Candace is also a second-year Ph.D. student at Gallaudet University, pursuing her studies in the Critical Studies in the Education of Deaf Learners program. Candace's favorite quote by Dr. Maya Angelou, "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel," guides her work in uplifting and empowering the Deaf, Black and Brown Deaf, DeafBlind, and Hard of Hearing communities. The Heritage Sign Languages Center's "Together, We Thrive" tagline reflects Candace's vision for fostering a vibrant and inclusive community.

Kongite Wessene is Director of Foreign Languages and Cultural Programs at Education Services International (ESI). She is also the founder of and educator in The Amharic Saturday Academy for Ethiopian-American children in North Carolina. In these roles, she focuses on developing instructional methodology and materials for teaching Amharic to children. Prior to founding ESI, she spent over 15 years as a professor of French, Francophone Literature, and Humanities at North Carolina Central University and a professor of French at Meredith College. She did her graduate studies at the University of Maryland at College Park and Howard University. She holds a MA in Intercultural Communications and Sociolinguistics from Howard University. Her research centered on language and identity: A comparative study between Ethiopia and the colonized African countries. She builds bridges and fosters understanding among diverse communities of people as a board member in organizations such as the United Nations Association-USA Triangle Chapter, the Ethiopian Community of North Carolina, the John Chavis Historical Society, and the Society of Ethiopians Established in the Diaspora. She spent over 23 years as an organizer and cultural ambassador of the annual International Festival of Raleigh, where she exhibited Ethiopian culture for over 20,000 attendees each year. She moved from the Washington, DC metropolitan area to Durham, North Carolina in 1989. She is a native of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Nehad Shawqi is founder of the first nucleus of Arabic Sunday schools in England, in 1982, in Regents Park, London. She has taught Arabic and Islamic Studies to Arab descendants. She is working on curriculum design and development, with a textbook for Arabic heritage learners (AHL). She is designing textbooks and creating a blog to help teach a curriculum that reflects the "other" culture. In order to attract AHLs to community schools, the curriculum has to be authentic and personally meaningful. Instructional materials for AHLs are lacking. She received her Masters of Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language (MATAFL) degree from The American University in Cairo and then worked as an Arabic instructor at the Arabic Language Institute at the American University in Cairo. In 2009, she worked for Middlebury College (Alexandria branch) for one year. She worked for the University of Alabama for three years (2010-2013) and has been an Arabic instructor for more than 20 years. Her publications include a book on Egyptian Colloquial Arabic, “Ana Min Il Balad Di” kalaam fi al 3adaat wa taqaliid. Her research focuses on teaching techniques with heritage Arabic speakers, focusing on communicative teaching methodologies that include heritage language concepts, values, and traditions, with contextualized activities that include brainstorming, eliciting, checking cultural awareness, negotiating metalinguistic language, and internalizing these concepts.

Partha Debnath is an Information Architect by profession and an avid enthusiast of diversity and social justice. With a conviction to support diversity and justice in society and nature, Partha works to understand the internal dialectics of multi-cultural social fabrics. He regularly engages in social endeavors to study multi-ethnic practices, race relations, and role of heritage languages to promote peaceful coexistence and diversity. He is motivated to work towards a better tomorrow. While pursuing his interests in information technology as a faculty member at the Indian Institute of Technology (Kharagpur) and Bengal Engineering University, West Bengal, India, he also engaged in carrying forward diverse educational programs among school kids via interactive and participatory learning methods. Using heritage language as the mode of communication, he adopted a collaborative approach and brought in science, society, nature, and culture to create holistic learning experiences for young students.

Partha founded two Bangla/Bengali schools in the Greater Philadelphia area in Pennsylvania (2010) and an umbrella organization, The Friends of Bangla School Foundation (FoBS), a 501c3 non-profit organization (2011) to coordinate and offer a networking platform, primarily for the Bangla schools in North America. He has engaged in dialogues with parents, teachers, and school district administrators to bring the State Seal of Biliteracy to students in Bangla Schools, celebrate International Mother Language Day, and organize annual events (e.g., Unity Fair Basanta Utsab and summer camps) as a vehicle for intermingling and sharing.

Partha has developed and introduced via Friends of Bangla Schools, a comprehensive curriculum to teach Bangla as a heritage language among young children and non-native speaking adults. He consolidated and incorporated the canonical forms and frameworks of ACTFL (in North America), CEFR (in Europe), and Biswa Bharati (in Indian sub-continent), as main ingredients to develop the curriculum. This was done as one of the primary tasks of establishing a robust framework for teaching Bangla (a.k.a. Bengali) as a heritage language, among the young children residing outside of native Bengal and Bangladesh. He was the key architect in developing a customized “Learning Management System” (LMS) to teach Bangla (and also any other heritage language), among young and adult learners, with self-paced, unsupervised, and supervised learning styles. He regularly engages himself and encourages others to create diverse, contextual content in both Bangla and English, to aid the learning of Bangla as a heritage language.

Partha is actively engaged in motivating the coordinators of Bangla schools in various states to join the Coalition of Community-Based Heritage Language Schools.

Sayema Khatun is the principal of Akkhor Bangla School, a heritage language community school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, established in 2015. She is one of the coordinators of the Friends of Bangla Schools (FOBS), an alliance of 16 Bangla schools that organizes an annual milan mela, an assembly of Bangla schools across the country. Sayema has just completed the 2024 Heritage Language Teacher Workshop from the National Heritage Language Resource Center (NHLRC) at UCLA, and she is developing a Bangla heritage language curriculum for the community school program, in collaboration with the NHLRC. She is also a member of the South Asian Language Teachers Association (SALTA) and recently presented a paper on "Potential of Literature to Teach Bengali as a Heritage Language" at the SALTA Conference 2024, UW-Madison. A first-generation immigrant and Bangladeshi-American socio-cultural anthropologist, Sayema earned an MS in anthropology (focusing on Rohingya refugees) at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. She is a former associate professor at the Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh, and she has worked on South Asian history, society, and culture for the last 20 years. Currently, she is an independent consultant for ACTFL as a Bengali language expert. Her research interests and ethnographic writings revolve around a wide range of topics in Bengal and Bangladesh studies, such as Bangla language, literature and culture, indigeneity, collective identity, citizenship, and making of refugees, policy and humanitarian intervention, partition of British-India, and recurring conflicts/crisis in Bangladesh-India-Myanmar borders. Besides publishing bilingual academic papers, she also writes short stories, poems, and op-eds in print and online publishing outlets and has published two books. Currently, she is preparing to pursue a PhD in the 2025-2026 year. She lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with her husband and teenage daughter. Her areas of expertise are the following: Bengali language, literature, and culture; Bangladesh studies; ethnography; South Asian society and culture; gender-based violence; Rohingya refugees; ethnic conflict; indigeneity; and transborder issues.

Azra Hodžić-Kadić teaches Bosnian and Croatian at the Language Center of the University of Vienna and is working on a project at the Austrian Academy of Sciences in the field of minority languages (VLACH). She is also engaged as a lecturer at The Institute of Slavonic Languages and Caucasus Studies at Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena. Her research areas are minority languages, multilingualism, the study of the Bosnian language in a multilingual society, and the role of mother tongues in the formation of a polycentric identity. She actively speaks eight languages, initiated the project "Otkrij bosanski - Entdecke Bosnisch - Discover Bosnian," and is the president of the association of the same name in Vienna. This association aims to promote the Bosnian language and multilingualism in the diaspora. Azra Hodžić-Kadić is the author of the first multilingual textbook for Bosnian as a second/foreign language (Otkrij bosanski 1). Another textbook (Otkrij bosanski 2) and a grammar book are in preparation. She is the chairman and founder of the Multilingualism and Interculturality Initiative, which promotes multilingualism in a broader sense. She has participated in several international scientific conferences and given lectures at several world universities in Finland, France, Slovenia, Hungary, Denmark, the United States, Australia, Turkey, and Bosnia Herzegovina. She is the author of the book "Dreikopfwelt-Troglavi svijet". Azra is a member of several Slavic and linguistic associations (Wiener Sprachgesellschaft, Slavic Linguistic Society, EURASLA, KOMBI). Currently, she is working on a large quantitative-qualitative study of Bosliš/sh as a hybrid language in St. Louis.

Anjela Hasheva-Piette is a highly accomplished educator and founder of the Bulgarian School of Seattle. With a career spanning over 31 years, she has taught French at all levels, from middle school to Advanced Placement, and has held U.S. teaching certification for nearly two decades. In addition to her work as a French teacher, Anjela has served as an Adjunct Faculty member at Washington Academy of Languages at City University of Seattle, where she has taught French language courses and developed curriculum.

As Founder and Director of the Bulgarian School of Seattle, Anjela has been instrumental in forming partnerships with ALTA testing authorities and the Seal of Biliteracy Advisory Committees in many states across the United States. She is also an active member of the Association of Bulgarian Schools in America (ABSA), where she serves as a Pioneer and helps to increase the visibility of Bulgarian heritage language schools.

In her role as Bulgarian Professional Learning Chair, Anjela collaborates in organizing professional growth opportunities for Bulgarian language teachers in local and national settings. She has been instrumental in developing the High School Language Credit Program and training for Digital Interactive Language Learning in response to adding student growth in learning and evaluations. Anjela also organizes Language Proficiency classes and focuses professional growth on student performance and proficiency.

As an advocate for Bulgarian heritage language education in the United States, Anjela is active on the State Board of Education in multiple states across America. She has been a member of the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF) her entire professional career and has been actively involved in advancing the field of French language education.

Anjela holds an MBA in entrepreneurship, which enhances her ability to lead and innovate in the field of education.

Pei-ni Causarano received her Ph.D. in educational linguistics from the University of New Mexico. While she is currently developing online Chinese courses for Fairfax (VA) County Public Schools, she continues teaching advanced Chinese courses at the University of Mary Washington. Her research is informed by more than 15 years of experience serving as a face-to-face and online Chinese and ESL instructor and clinical supervisor at various institutions. Her interdisciplinary areas of study include cross-linguistic influences in second language acquisition (SLA), thinking from a first language perspective when speaking a second language, online language teaching and learning, and development of second language (L2) literacy. Raising trilingual (Chinese, Italian, and English) children, Dr. Causarano is also an educator and parent in heritage language schools.

An Chung Cheng, Ph.D., is a professor of Spanish at the University of Toledo, Ohio, where she has also served as the Director of the Asian Studies Program and adviser of the Multi-Age Foreign Language Education Program at undergraduate and graduate levels. She specializes in second language acquisition and teacher education. Her research areas are in instructed second language acquisition, multilingualism, heritage language education, language input processing, and corpus-based approaches in third language acquisition. She has taught foreign language teacher education courses in the United States and abroad. Dr. Cheng has been actively involved in community-based Chinese heritage schools as a parent, teacher, member of the board of directors, and head of a weekend school. She was the principal investigator of a research project on Chinese heritage programs in the United States, funded by an International Research and Studies Grant of the U.S. Department of Education (2009-2013). She has been the program director and instructor of the STARTALK-CHELER Chinese Leadership Program at the University of Toledo for teachers of Chinese heritage schools each year since 2013. She is the past chair of the ACTFL Less Commonly Taught Languages Special Interest Group and the president of the National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages (NCOLCTL).

Ms. Hui Liang is a certified Chinese language teacher with 20 years of language teaching experience at the high school and college level. She is a highly motivated, enthusiastic, and dedicated educator and curriculum writer who has demonstrated great passion for her teaching. She has served several Chinese schools in the United States for 12 years. Ms. Liang is also a former Vice-Principal and Academic Director of the Howard County Chinese School, Maryland, where she was responsible for designing and implementing the Chinese curriculum, hiring teachers and providing professional development, working with parents, and running the school’s daily operation. All Chinese programs and subsidiary courses have been launched and well developed, and they have been enjoyed by many students and parents. The school size has been increased from 436 to 1,200 students in the past 8 years. Currently, she is a member of the Board Directors of the Chinese School Association in the United States (CSAUS) and the former President and current Director of the Chinese Language Teacher Association, North Capital Region (CLTA-NCR). Ms. Liang is an active promoter of Chinese language and culture and an event organizer. Together with her team members, she has organized and participated in several conferences and workshops, bringing in outside speakers and authors to share their work with the Chinese language teaching community, while also regularly organizing extracurricular and community events.

Tommy Lu, EdD, has been actively gathering and developing programs for Chinese community-based schools for over 20 years. He has served in several positions, such as the principal, vice principal, curriculum director, and teacher of the Chinese School of Delaware; co-chair of the ACTFL Heritage Language SIG; president of ACS (Association of Chinese Schools) and NCACLS (National Council of Association of Chinese Language Schools); Chinese language representative for the Coalition of Community-Based Language Schools; and senior advisor to CELIN (Chinese Early Language and Immersion Network) @ Asia Society. He is interested in building a platform for all community-based schools using the community of practice (Wenger, McDermott, & Snyder) approach so that every community member can share and collaborate what they have learned and improve teaching and learning.

Grace Wu is a Senior Lecturer in Foreign Language in the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Pennsylvania, specializing in Chinese literacy and Chinese character teaching. Currently, Grace is the Chinese Heritage Language Course coordinator at the Penn Chinese Language Program. Combining Grace's creativity and her 25-year experience in the field of Chinese language education, the Chinese Biographies series was selected as the best grant project of 2012 for the School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania.

Grace has been academic director of the Chinese School of South Jersey (CSSJ) since 2007, when her children entered kindergarten in CSSJ. The dedicated teachers and volunteers, as well as the camaraderie and friendship her family has developed in the community-based school, are what have kept her serving the community. Grace has served on the CSSJ Board of Trustees for the past ten years and was President for the past 6 years. She is also the current Chair and Vice Chair (2018-2021) of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Heritage SIG. During COVID-19, Grace organized an ACTFL webinar about “Teaching and Learning in a Community-Based Heritage Language School”, addressing these questions: How does remote teaching affect our community school? How do community schools continue their agenda in the midst of challenges? Her new book, Heritage Chinese: Modern Chinese for Advanced Beginners (Wu et al.) will be published by Routledge in 2023.

Renáta Kamenarova is Director of the Slovak Studies Program at the University of Pittsburgh and a specialist in foreign language instruction, with 20 years of experience in university education. She is the lead author of Krížom-krážom, a popular 4-book series of Slovak language textbooks for foreigners and co-authored the distance learning course www.e-slovak.sk. She taught Slovak language and culture at the Comenius University in Slovakia and at the University of Bologna in Italy. She was a Founder and Director of the Slovak School of Bologna / Forlì in Italy and a teacher at the M. R. Stefanik Slovak weekend school in Boston and at the Czech and Slovak School of Pittsburgh. In her free time, she loves hiking and traveling with family and friends.

Marta McCabe, Ph.D., is Founder and Director of the Czech and Slovak School of North Carolina. She also serves as a Board Member of the Coalition of Community-Based Heritage Language Schools. Marta works as a Global Learning Consultant at Duke University’s Academic Resource Center. Marta’s professional interests include international education, migration, linguistic diversity, and heritage language maintenance.

Jitka Sebek is the co-founder, leader, and a teacher at Czech and Slovak School Twin Cities that was first forming for five years in her house and now is part of Sokol Minnesota while collaborating with other local Czech and Slovak entities. With over 30 students and more than 10 volunteering parents, the goal is to test for the Seal of Biliteracy. Jitka holds an M.A. in World History, Russian Language and Literature, taught German language in the Czech Republic and Minnesota, and is currently teaching English for Adult Options in Education/ESL.

Farid Saydee, PhD, is an Adjunct Professor at the School of Curriculum and Teaching at Kean University. He teaches language methodology and research courses as part of the master’s program. Professor Saydee is also the Founder/President of Language Mentors International “www.languagementors.org,” where he provides educational consultancy services to institutions of higher education throughout the nation.

Professor Saydee is a native of Afghanistan, speaking both Dari and Pashto languages. In 2008, he developed one of the strongest Dari and Pashto programs in the country. During his tenure at the Language Acquisition Resource Center (LARC) at San Diego State University, he taught intensive novice-advanced Dari and Pashto courses. He also supervised the development of curriculum and instruction for Central and South American, African, Central and South Asian, and Middle Eastern languages, offered through different projects at LARC.

Professor Saydee’s research focuses on transformative pedagogy and global education. His current projects include developing textbooks for Dari and Pashto courses and researching the characteristics of language immersion in STARTALK Student Programs. Both projects are funded by a three-year (2020-2023) grant from the U.S. Department of Education International Research and Studies.

Professor Saydee is a STARTALK team leader. He visits educational institutions, reviews curricula and instruction, and provides feedback for improvement. He is also an ACTFL teacher mentor, quality assurance analyst, and proficiency tester/rater (AAPPL, OPI, OPIC, WPT) in the Dari, Pashto, and Persian-Farsi languages. Professor Saydee has published several scholarly articles and is the principal author or co-author of three textbooks in Pashto and two in Dari.

Laura Ligthart grew up in the Netherlands, where she completed her studies before embarking on an international career in marketing and product development. After university, she moved to France to work in sales and marketing for Les Trois Vallées — the world’s largest ski resort — combining her love of the mountains with her professional ambitions. She later relocated to Munich, Germany, where she served as marketing manager for a cosmetic packaging company. In 2005, Laura and her family moved to the United States, settling in Southern California. There, she continued her career as a product manager for several well-known cosmetic brands before transitioning into the world of education.

Since 2014, Laura has proudly served as the director of the Dutch School in Southern California. Under her leadership, the school has grown significantly — now offering classes at three campus locations (San Diego, Orange County, and North Hollywood), as well as a dynamic worldwide online program that reaches students of all ages and levels worldwide. Laura is passionate about language, culture, and building community. She especially enjoys working closely with teachers, students, and families to create meaningful, engaging educational experiences that help children stay connected to their Dutch roots — wherever they live.

She is married to a French husband, and together they are raising two bilingual and bicultural children: a 13-year-old son and a 15-year-old daughter. Their family blends Dutch, French, and American traditions and enjoys the richness that comes with an international lifestyle.

Merike Barborak, with over two decades of experience in education, cultural management, and community leadership, has made significant contributions to the preservation and promotion of Estonian language and culture, particularly within Estonian communities abroad. In her current role as the coordinator for Estonian schools abroad at the Institute of the Estonian Language, she is responsible for overseeing the global network of Estonian schools, developing educational programs, and supporting Estonian language learning initiatives for the diaspora, with a special focus on the United States.

From 2010 to 2024, Merike served as the Head of the New York Estonian School, where she managed the school’s daily operations, including curriculum development, staff recruitment and training, and the overall growth of the institution. During this time, she helped create several educational materials, including the two-part Salakeele Käsiraamat (Secret Language Handbook), which is used worldwide in teaching Estonian as a second language.

In addition to her work at the Estonian Language Institute, Merike teaches for the Global School for Estonian Language, where she designs individualized lesson plans and conducts virtual Estonian language classes, supporting learners across the globe in their language acquisition.

Since 2019, she has been the main organizer of the New York Estonian Cultural Days, a prominent four-day festival celebrating Estonian culture. She has curated and led numerous cultural programs, bringing Estonian music, arts, and traditions to an international audience.

A passionate advocate for Estonian education, Merike has also contributed to several non-profit and cultural organizations. She has served as a board member of the Estonian School Fund in the USA since 2009 and as vice-chair of the Foundation for Estonian Arts and Letters, where she supports initiatives that promote Estonian culture in North America.

Merike holds a Master’s degree in Administration and Supervision with a focus on Educational Training from Montclair State University (New Jersey, USA) and a Bachelor’s degree in Educational Sciences from Tartu University (Tartu, Estonia).

In recognition of her exceptional service, Merike was awarded the Aino Järvesoo Award in 2022 and received Diplomatic Recognition for Cultural Diplomacy from the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2023.

Ivy Daulo is a lifelong learner and community advocate for the Filipino language movement. Growing up as a heritage language learner with no Filipino/Tagalog language classes offered in K-12, Ivy finally had the opportunity to take Filipino/Tagalog classes at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) in 2003, and became inspired to learn more through several study abroad programs in the Philippines. She became the first to graduate with a degree in Language Studies: Tagalog from UCSD, accompanied with her bachelor’s degree in Sociology. After many years in both the education and nonprofit sectors, Ivy earned a Master’s Degree in Education, with a focus on Dual Language Development and eventually became adjunct faculty at California State University Long Beach, teaching Filipino/Tagalog and Asian American Studies courses from 2014 to 2018. As part of the Council for Teaching Filipino Language and Culture, Ivy coordinated the first virtual intercultural teacher exchange program amongst teachers within the San Diego County Office of Education and various schools in the Philippines and continued these language advocacy efforts by working with organizations like the Search to Involve Pilipino Americans and the Filipino Cultural School. Beyond roles in education and nonprofits, she has worked for both federal and local governments to ensure that culturally-responsive approaches toward meaningful community engagement are used. Ivy currently leads language access efforts in the City of Los Angeles and remains committed to equitable representation and language justice.

Jairus Ramos is studying to complete the teacher credential program at California State University Long Beach (CSULB) so he can teach Filipino/Tagalog in grades K-12. He believes in celebrating diversity, equity, and opportunities for youth and adults to learn Filipino language and culture. Since 2019, Jairus has been a community teacher, teaching Filipino/Tagalog in various communities around Los Angeles, and then online in the summer of 2020. He was born in Laguna, Philippines, and immigrated to the United States at the age of 6. He grew up in Southeast Los Angeles in a Tagalog-speaking household, which was how he was able to retain his first language. However, it was not until transferring to CSULB that he was able to take formal Filipino/Tagalog classes. He studied Filipino/Tagalog for four semesters there, and also studied Filipino/Tagalog over a summer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison through the Southeast Asian Studies Summer Institute (SEASSI).

Jairus Ramos is studying to complete the teacher credential program at California State University Long Beach (CSULB) so he can teach Filipino/Tagalog in grades K-12. He believes in celebrating diversity, equity, and opportunities for youth and adults to learn Filipino language and culture. Since 2019, Jairus has been a community teacher, teaching Filipino/Tagalog in various communities around Los Angeles, and then online in the summer of 2020. He was born in Laguna, Philippines, and immigrated to the United States at the age of 6. He grew up in Southeast Los Angeles in a Tagalog-speaking household, which was how he was able to retain his first language. However, it was not until transferring to CSULB that he was able to take formal Filipino/Tagalog classes. He studied Filipino/Tagalog for four semesters there, and also studied Filipino/Tagalog over a summer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison through the Southeast Asian Studies Summer Institute (SEASSI).

Karoliina Nevalainen Hansten is a teacher and board member at the San Diegon Suomi Koulu (San Diego Finnish School). After attending the San Diegon Suomi Koulu herself, she became a teacher at the school in 2022. There are currently 14 official Finnish community-based schools in the United States. Her work with the House of Finland began in 2012, alongside the House of Pacific Relations International Houses promoting Finnish culture, language, and community. As an active participant in the Finnish community, she has continued to grow a love for sustaining “mother tongues” in the early childhood development years. Karoliina holds a B.A. from the University of California Santa Barbara and a California Teaching Credential from California State University San Marcos. She is currently pursuing a Master's Degree in Early Childhood Development. She is also a Kindergarten teacher in the Poway Unified School District.

Yann Gaboriau is the Coordinator of the French Heritage Language Program (FHLP), a nationwide initiative dedicated to supporting Francophone immigrant youth and heritage speakers in preserving their linguistic and cultural identities. A partnership between Villa Albertine · The French Institute for Culture and Education and the Albertine Foundation, FHLP provides educational resources and cultural opportunities to empower K-12 students through the French language. Originally from France, Yann has been based in New York since 2012, where he has dedicated his career to bilingual and heritage language education. He has taught in French Dual Language Immersion programs, working closely with multilingual learners to strengthen their linguistic and cultural connections. With a background in education and cultural advocacy, Yann has successfully developed curriculum frameworks, fostered partnerships with schools and community organizations, and organized engaging cultural events. His work emphasizes inclusivity, global competence, and the celebration of Francophone diversity in the United States.

Fabrice Jaumont is the author of several books, including The Bilingual Revolution: The Future of Education is in Two Languages, which provides practical advice for parents and educators who want to create a dual-language program in their own school. A native of France, Fabrice Jaumont moved to the United States in 1997. After serving as an education liaison for the French Consulate in Boston and then as a director of the International School of Boston, he moved to New York in 2001. He is currently a Program Director for FACE Foundation and Education Attaché for the Embassy of France to the United States, where he co-founded the French Heritage Language Program with Jane Ross. He is also a Senior Fellow at Fondation Maison des Sciences de l’Homme in Paris, and holds a Ph.D. in Comparative and International Education from New York University. In recognition of his various involvements in education and culture, he was honored with several awards including the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie's Cultural Diversity Award; the French Ministry of Education's Academic Palms; and the U.S. Committee of French Societies' Medal of Honor. His work has received the accolades of various news media. For more information, please visit http://www.fabricejaumont.net.

Agnès Tounkara, who was born and raised in Senegal, studied Economics in France and moved to the U.S. for family reasons in 2000. Ever since, her career path has been driven by her passion for French and Francophone cultures. At the Alliance Française of Boston, she led the Education Department and helped launch one of the first Heritage Language Programs in Boston serving a large Haitian community in several elementary schools in the Boston area. She then moved to New York and joined the French American School of New York, where she oversaw the extracurricular activities, promoting the French language through many programs to parents but also to the Westchester community at large. As a francophone parent raising children in the U.S., Agnès is extremely excited about her new role as coordinator of the French Heritage Language Program (FHLP) and looks forward to strengthening and growing a program which is very close to her heart. For the past 14 years, the French Heritage Language Program has been helping francophone immigrants and young Americans with francophone background to maintain their linguistic and cultural heritage. Today, the program is present in 4 of New York City’s 5 boroughs, and offers workshops in 10 schools within the Internationals Network for Public Schools, in the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan. More than 200 NYC students now partake in the FHLP activities every year. Moreover, the program’s success in New York has led to expanding classes in other states including Boston, Maine, Miami, and Philadelphia.

Sigrid Belluz, a native of Austria, is Vice President of the national umbrella organization of the German heritage language schools in the United States and the Principal of the German School of Charlotte, NC. She is also affiliated with Wingate University. During her international career as an educator in Austria, Italy, and the United States, Sigrid has gained wide expertise in language instruction at any age and proficiency level. In Austria, she supervised and trained student teachers during their classroom practicums. She also regularly gives workshops and presentations in the field of heritage language education at the national and international levels. Through her leadership, her school has received the national American Association of Teachers of German (AATG) Award, “Center of Excellence,” and was admitted into the world-wide network of “Schools - Partners for the Future” initiated by the Federal Foreign Office of Germany. Sigrid’s achievements to foster the German language and culture in the southeastern United States and to deepen friendships between the nations were recognized with the Golden Pin of Honor of Lower Austria and the Martin Boltzius Award by the German Consulate of Atlanta.

Heike Feltes has been teaching heritage language learners since 2005 in the Bay Area, California. She has been a teacher at the Bay Area Kinderstube (BAKS+) since 2008 and co-director since 2009. Under her co-leadership, the school has quadrupled in enrollment to currently 240 students and has added a very popular four-week summer program in Berkeley for 90 children ages 3-12. BAKS+ is a unique program, since it specializes in heritage and native language German speakers at grade levels K-12. BAKS+ was designated a German center of excellence in 2013 by the American Association of Teachers of German (AATG), is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), and is a certified PASCH Schule through the German government. Heike holds a masters in teaching and a masters in social work, has been the chair of the Saturday and language schools committee of AATG for many years, and is the new president of the AATG NorCal chapter. She loves to network, gives workshops and seminars regularly, initiates new programs, and sees as her main roles as connecting with the students and families in her BAKS+ community and making learning German fun at all grade levels.

Renate Ludanyi, Ph.D., is co-founder and president of the national umbrella organization for German heritage language schools in the United States and the organizer of its annual teacher development conference at the German Consulate General in New York. She is also the co-founder and president/principal of the German School of Connecticut, with two teaching sites. With the assistance of the Central Agency for German Schools Abroad, Germany, she introduced the German Sprachdiplom Examination (an official language prerequisite for studying at a German university) into the U.S., for which she received the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. Many German heritage language schools in the U.S. now offer this examination and have their students study at German-speaking universities. Through her leadership, her school has received the national American Association of Teachers of German (AATG) designation, Center of Excellence, and also became a member of the world-wide network of “Schools - Partners for the Future” initiated by the Federal Foreign Office of Germany. She has published and lectured widely nationally and internationally on topics of community-based heritage language schools and on language maintenance and the history of German immigration into the United States. She is a professor of German and the director of the German Studies Center of Western Connecticut State University. She has received numerous awards for her work.

Marta Mozin has been acting primarily as an assistant in teaching heritage language learners since 2007 in the Bay Area, California. She started working at the German School of San Francisco (GSSF) in 2007 and has worked with many different age groups and often teaching classes when the primary teacher could not be present. In 2024, Marta also joined the Bay Area Kinderstube (BAKS+) as a co-teacher. She holds an M.A. in International Policy Studies and German from the Monterey Institute of International Studies and a B.A. in Foreign Language International Affairs from the University of Puget Sound. Marta was born in Germany but has grown up in the United States in a Polish-speaking household. When she obtained the opportunity to start learning German in high school, she ran with it. As a senior in high school, she was awarded a scholarship by the PAD to spend a full expense-paid month traveling throughout Germany. During her studies at the University of Puget Sound, she spent a year abroad at the University of Passau.

Dimitra Georgouses the Director of Peripatein: A center for Greek language and culture which offers classes in downtown Chicago, suburban Chicago, and online. Dimitra has a background in elementary education, special education, English as a second language (ESL), and bilingual education. Her research is focuses on heritage Greek speakers in the diaspora and adapting teaching strategies to their unique needs. She has previously taught at the University of Chicago Linguistics Department as an adjunct instructor in Modern Greek. She has directed the Education Department and Greek school at the National Hellenic Museum for seven years. She was born and raised in the United States but holds close ties to Greece and Cyprus. She holds a Masters degree from DePaul University in Elementary Education and endorsements for teaching elementary and middle school, ESL, special education, and bilingual education. She holds a Greek teaching endorsement from the University of Cyprus and completed her Education Specialist degree in Curriculum Studies with a research focus on Greek curriculum from DePaul University. She is passionate about creating evidence-based Greek curriculum to fit the unique needs of heritage Greek speakers.

Eva Prionas, Ph.D., taught Modern Greek Language, Literature, and Culture at Stanford University. She supervised and worked closely with instructors of the Less Commonly Taught Languages (LCTLs), designing curriculum, leading colloquia, workshops, and seminars on the teaching and learning of the LCTLs at the local and national levels. Her work focuses on promoting best practices and novel methods of instruction that take advantage of technologies and digitally based innovations to create interactive, state of the art language learning environments. She has designed digitally mediated courses for LCTLs in collaboration with school districts and university programs. She is the founder of the American Association of Teachers of Modern Greek (AATMG) and the ACTFL Modern Greek Special Interest Group (ACTFL Modern Greek SIG). She has been working with community-based schools of the Greek diaspora and she has been a mentor to Modern Greek language programs across the country. Her contributions have resulted in professional development and mentorship programs, and continuous advocacy for community-based language education. A native of Athens, Greece, Eva received her B.A. degree in Literature and Classics from the National Kapodistrian University of Greece and her Ph.D. in the field of Education from Stanford University. She lives in the San Francisco Bay area.

Stavroula Skrepetou was born and raised in Greece. She has taught in private and public schools in Greece -- Ancient and Modern Greek Language, Latin, History, and Literature. In 2012, she moved to the United States with her family and, since then, has taught the Greek language to middle and high school students and adults in schools in the Washington, DC Metropolitan area. Her three children have all attended Greek schools. During her professional career, she participated in numerous seminars and programs focusing on the quality of education and the improvement of skills for teaching Ancient and Modern Greek language and on teaching Greek as a second/foreign language. She has also written annotation booklets for Ancient Greek Language textbooks. Since 2013, she has been an examiner in the examinations of Greek language competency program. In August 2022, she assumed the position of Director of St. Katherine Greek School in Falls Church, Virginia. Saint Katherine serves as one of the oldest Ellinomatheia test centers and the only one in the DC area. In July 2023, she was appointed by the Center for Greek Language (CGL), which is an official body of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport of Greece, as its official representative for the St. Katherine Ellinomatheia test center. In this capacity, she is responsible for coordinating all actions toward the seamless execution of the exams. She is passionate about teaching and promoting the Greek heritage and language and their impact on the entire world. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Literature and Classics from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.

Nilu Gupta received her M.A. degree in Hindi from Delhi University. In 2021, in recognition of her long-standing work in the spread of Hindi and Indian culture in the U.S., The Honorable President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, conferred upon Ms. Gupta The Pravasi Bhartiya Samman, the highest Indian award for a non-resident Indian, constituted by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, Government of India, to honor exceptional and meritorious contributions. She has been the recipient of several awards and recognitions at the local community, city, and state level. In 2022, The Honorable President of the United States, Joe Biden, also conferred on Ms. Gupta the award for Exemplary Community Service.

Ms. Gupta has taught Hindi across different continents. In the late 1980s to the 2000s, she traveled extensively with her late husband, who was in the business of exports from India, and was stationed in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany. Her love for Hindi led her to run local grassroots Hindi classes, at a time when there was virtually no infrastructure or support apparatus. In early 2000, she moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. with her husband to be close to her children. Upon arriving in the Bay area, California, she began teaching Hindi at the Bay Area Indian Community Center (ICC).

In 2006, seeing the India expat community and cross-border exchange between Indian and American personnel grow, Ms. Gupta petitioned the De Anza College (www.deanza.edu) of Cupertino, California, one of the largest community colleges, to begin offering Hindi as an accredited foreign language. At the time there was no precedent or awareness of Hindi at local schools and colleges. However, Ms. Gupta persisted in her resolve and was able to successfully convince the Board of Trustees of De Anza to greenlight the initiative. Ms. Gupta constructed the curriculum for a three-quarters (15 college credits) Hindi course (recognized as meeting the language requirements for incoming freshman students across colleges in the United States), and has since been teaching it as the professor of Hindi Language. Over the years, Ms. Gupta has enhanced the course with several innovative methods of teaching, including understanding of grammar, making it easy for both native and non-native speakers to learn. Her students love her methods and class, a sentiment reflected in their consistent rating of 5-Star.

Ms. Gupta has published 4 books on teaching Hindi. Several schools including Chinmaya Mission, Jain Pathshala, and more are using her books in their classrooms.

She is the founder of 2 not-for-profit organizations: 1) UPMAGlobal.org and 2) Vishwa Hindi Jyoti. Both organizations are in service of promoting Hindi and Indian Culture in the Bay Area, organizing recurring events such as Kavi Sammelan, Festival celebrations, community discussions, plays, and more. She is also a state member of the California Language Teachers Association (CLTA).

Publications; Vijayi Vishwa Tiranga Pyara’ book compiled 45 countries of the world.

Hindi story book ‘ Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah’ Pettit book ‘ Jiwan phoolon ki Daali’ Haiku Sangrah ‘ Gagan Ujiyara’ and many more books written and published.

Darshan Krishnareceived her Master’s Degree in Hindi from the University of Delhi and worked as a lecturer at two of its constituent colleges, Indraprastha College and Lady Shri Ram College. She later worked in Canberra, Australia as a researcher at the Institute of Advanced Studies and as a part-time lecturer in the Department of Public Education, The School of General Studies, and The Australian National University. In the United States, she taught Hindi to a number of Foreign Service Officers and World Bank officials for several years.

In 1973, Mrs. Krishna, with her husband Dr. Raj Krishna, founded The India School in Washington DC to promote the study of Hindi as well as other Indian languages, arts, and culture. The India School was the first institution of its kind in the United States and became a premier institution of instruction, over the years teaching thousands of students. She developed the course materials and both supervised and carried out the teaching of Hindi and other subjects. The school also prepared students for the Hindi proficiency Certificate and Diploma examinations given by the Central Hindi Directorate of India. She started a Hindi/Urdu Club for interested students to socialize, converse, and improve their Hindi.

As Founder/President of the India School she planned and presented, in conjunction with the Capital Children’s Museum of Washington DC, a Festival of Arts and Crafts of India for Children. The exhibit was visited by thousands of American children. The Washington Post called it “a young traveler’s passageway to India” in a very complimentary review. She organized numerous performances by India School students at venues such the Smithsonian and the Kennedy Center. She also organized several programs presenting Indian classical dance and music by internationally renowned Indian artists such as Ali Akbar Khan, Zakir Hussain, Sitara Devi, Uma Sharma, and Rajan and Sajan Mishra.

The Association of Indians in America honored her as a community leader in the field of Education. The Government of Montgomery County, Maryland awarded her a certificate in recognition of and appreciation for outstanding service to the community.

Ashok Ojha is a New Jersey-based journalist and teacher, where he manages two non-profit organizations, Yuva Hindi Sansthan and Hindi Sangam Foundation, both dedicated to promotion of Hindi language in the U.S. and beyond. Well-versed in national standards and best practices in curriculum instruction appropriate for U.S. Schools, Ashok is a K-12 certified teacher for social studies.

He worked as a full-time Hindi journalist, script writer, and documentary producer in India prior to his immigration to the United States in 1996, where he was enrolled in the International Affairs program at New York University. He continued to report on current affairs for publications and journals in the U.S. and India. In January 2017, he produced and directed a series of short videos on Citizenship and Social Justice’ for a New York University project.

As the coordinator of the International Hindi Conference, U.S., he collaborated with scholars from a number of leading universities, including New York University (NYU), Columbia, the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn), to organize three International Hindi Conferences in the U.S. at NYU (2014), Rutgers (2015), the Consulate General of India, New York (2016). He is collaborating with the Consulate General of India, New York for holding the Fifth International Hindi Conference, September 21-23, 2018 (http://www.hindiconferenceamericas.com). The conference will be hosted by the Consulate General of India, New York.

Since 2010, Ashok has been awarded U.S. government funding for directing STARTALK Hindi Programs. Trained as a Hindi teacher at the 2009 UPenn STARTALK Teacher Program, he directed the STARTALK program for Kean University students (2010, 2011) followed by YHS STARTALK Hindi programs at Bensalem (2012), Hatfield (2013), and Harleysville, PA (2014-17). He has been awarded three STARTALK grants to direct the Sangam-Franklin STARTALK Hindi Program since 2016. This program is held at Franklin High School in collaboration with Franklin Township School District, New Jersey. In 2018, Ashok directed two summer programs in Pennsylvania and New Jersey-YHS STARTALK Hindi Program, June 18-July 6, at Pennbrook Middle School, North Wales, PA; and Sangam-Franklin STARTALK Hindi Program, July 16-August 2, at Franklin High School.

Ashok taught English as a foreign language in Yongan, Fujian, China in 2012. He has earned two bachelor degrees—one from NYU (2001), U.S., and from Magadh University, Bodh Gaya, India (1971).

Bhavya Singh is an instructional technology specialist, Hindi/Urdu language educator, and resourceful lifelong learner who values teamwork, collaboration, and cross-functional engagements to deliver target objectives in instructional design and language education for virtual and blended learning. She is also a Hindi/Urdu language professional development facilitator for the California Language Teacher Association.

https://wp.nyu.edu/virtualhindi/bhavya-singh/

Mamta Tripathi is the co-founder, principal, and lead instructor at Hindi Language Academy. Applying 21st century pedagogy and the World Readiness Standards for Hindi learning is her passion, which led her to conceive and co-found Hindi Language Academy in 2019. After her first formal training in Hindi learning and teaching with STARTALK in 2008, she started the very first Hindi language program in her township, which runs as Montgomery Hindi School, NJ.

A native speaker of Hindi with an ACTFL Superior level rating, Mamta has been teaching Hindi in community-based programs and has also taught in about a dozen STARTALK Hindi language immersion programs since 2008. She is ACTFL-trained in conducting Oral Proficiency Interviews. She has also co-authored four Hindi books for beginner level students with Educators Society for Heritage of India. She currently leads a specialized program for high school students to prepare them for the State Seal of Biliteracy and the Global Seal of Biliteracy in Hindi. In order to develop a robust professional learning community at Hindi Language Academy, she regularly mentors the emerging Hindi teachers in effective and research-based language teaching pedagogy. She takes a keen interest in maximizing student engagement by infusing learning experiences with age-appropriate EdTech tools and learning activities.

Mamta is a reflective practitioner and strongly believes that leadership and learning are indispensable to each other. In order to keep her pedagogy and leadership skills current, she actively participates in professional development training and workshops.

She has a Master's degree in Hindi Pedagogy from Kean University, United States, and a Master's degree in Biochemistry from Lucknow University, India.

Mamta has a deep interest in the science and technology embedded in India’s rich culture and heritage, which is reflected in her curricula and lesson plans. She has been residing in New Jersey with her family since 1996. When she is free, she may be found listening to Hindi podcasts and reading poetry and stories. She also loves to go on nature walks, hikes, and to the beach.

Milind Ranad received his Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology from the University of Pune in 1980. He then attended the Film and Television Institute of India, where he received a Post Graduate Diploma in Filmmaking in 1985. He has been teaching Hindi and Marathi at various universities in the Philadelphia area for the past 19 years. He is currently an adjunct instructor of Hindi at Temple University, where he teaches Hindi Elements I and II, and Hindi Intermediate I and II. He is also an instructor of Marathi at the University of Pennsylvania, where he teaches Elementary and Intermediate Marathi. He has also taught Hindi at the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University, the University of Sciences, and the Startalk Hindi and Urdu Program at Princeton, New Jersey. He enjoys teaching and is passionate about sharing his knowledge of Hindi and Marathi with his students.

Milind is committed to continuous learning and professional development. In 2005, he participated in a five-day workshop at the University of Pennsylvania on Communicative Language Teaching. In 2006, he participated in a five-day SALRC (South Asia Language Resource Center, University of Chicago) Pedagogy Workshop on Assessment Concepts and Theory. These workshops have helped him to improve his teaching skills and to become a more effective instructor. Milind was a participant in a Fulbright Hays project 2022-2023, which included a 30-day study tour of India with the aim of studying the impact of Climate Change and local activism to mitigate it and use the research material to create Hindi language syllabi and lesson plans.

In addition to teaching, Milind has worked as a freelance cameraman and a chief assistant cameraman for a number of feature films, documentaries, TV serials, and programs in the Mumbai Film Industry, popularly known as 'Bollywood' in India. He also wrote, produced, and directed an Indian feature film titled Lutaloot. This film premiered in Philadelphia in 2003.

He has been working as a freelance cartoonist in the U.S. and India for various newspapers since 1978. His cartoons have been published in The Philadelphia Inquirer. He has also published a book of cartoons titled Cartoonyatra. He is also a self-trained animator. He has done book illustrations and Political Cartoon work for book publishers, authors, and websites.

Tamy Alvi, CPA, is a passionate educator and innovator with over 15 years of experience. She is a native Urdu and Punjabi speaker, and she has been involved in the promoting and training of Urdu language and Pakistani culture in Virginia through the Indus Art Council since 2021. As the DC, Maryland, and Virginia Development Director for Indus Arts Council, she is dedicated to promoting Pakistani arts and culture through various activities that engage students of different ages and is working to develop Urdu classes in this area.

Ms. Alvi has over a decade-long background in running an education consulting firm in Hong Kong, where she specialized in developing and creating engaging and effective English as a Second Language (ESL) programs and training teachers. Drawing on her vast experience, she understands the unique challenges faced by students and educators. She believes that patience, practice, and positive reinforcement are key to success. Ms. Alvi is involved with several Urdu language education and development initiatives in the U.S., with local libraries and community groups. When she's not inspiring learners or advocating for the language, culture and arts, she is a dedicated CPA, providing audit and cybersecurity solutions to her clients.

Talat Awais is native Urdu speaker, born in Pakistan. She has over 30 years of experience with teaching and building educational programs in both private and non-profit institutions. She has taught in one of the leading and distinguished schools in Pakistan, Lahore Grammar School (LGS). She not only taught Computer Science and ICS (Intermediate in Computer Science) in this school and college, she was instrumental in establishing the computer labs. As head of the Computer Departments in multiple branches of LGS, she mentored her staff to produce love for the subject within the students and help them achieve high grades in both O’ and A’ Level Cambridge Exams. She has been trained at both Cambridge and Oxford and has multiple certifications related to best practices and techniques in teaching.

Currently she is playing the role of Language Program Director for Indus Arts Council’s Urdu program. Her passion for the Urdu language was evoked by her Urdu teacher while studying Urdu literature in O’Level. Her 7 years of experience with teaching Urdu in Houston ranges from ages K-12 to adults. Outside the Indus Arts Council, she has also taught Urdu to middle and high school students at Awty International School and other private schools in Houston.

Talat has attended several of StarTalk’s teacher training workshops since 2014, deepening her knowledge and understanding of methodologies involved in language teaching. She has also attended and conducted professional development workshops with the Indus Arts Council. She was the lead presenter at ACTFL 2018, on Effective Use of Resources for Language Learners. She is well versed in student assessment and has been ACTFL OPI certified since 2019. She also attended training on Performance Assessment at the Center for Applied Linguistics, Washington DC, in 2016. She completed New York University teacher training in 2021. She is well informed and skilled in the knowledge of StarTalk principles and ACTFL learning standards. Working as the lead instructor, she has applied this knowledge in designing the curricula for Indus Arts Council StarTalk summer programs since 2016. She successfully leads her team throughout the year for the Urdu Program run by Indus Arts Council in Houston TX. She has incorporated strategies using music, theater, storytelling and online games to make language learning a fun process. She has also brought her IT knowledge into designing innovative ways to teach Urdu both in class and online.

Talat is a self-directed, enthusiastic educator committed to student development and enhanced learning experience. She is skilled in designing innovative activities that challenge students while addressing their diverse needs and interests. She tailors her communication style and messages based on how the students learn best, while incorporating a variety of ways to present information to be learned. She believes in building teams through collaboration and open-mindedness to produce positive results and a more inspiring work environment. Her vision is to create an environment in every lesson for students to develop their language proficiency, develop language skills that will help them connect to their culture, and make them lifelong Urdu learners.

Shahid Iqbal is a native Urdu language speaker from Karachi, Pakistan. He is co-founder of Indus Arts Council, an Urdu heritage language school in the U.S, where he has worked for 8 years as the program director. He is responsible for promoting and developing Urdu classes in several areas of the Greater Houston, Texas, metropolitan area, including but not limited to community centers, private schools, and online (due to the pandemic). Shahid holds a Bachelor's degree in Management Information Systems and certification in Capital Fundraising from Rice University in Houston, Texas.

Shahid has chaired several committees for Urdu language education/development in the U.S., from local organizations to nationwide Urdu pedagogy consultants, institutes, and community groups. He has also led the teacher training program at Indus Arts Council since 2014. He is involved with the City of Houston, Harris County, and other local government agencies in promoting the use of the Urdu language in public service as well as in targeted community messages.

Since 2014, Shahid has served as the Program Director for the StarTalk Urdu summer camp in Houston, Texas. He has attended several StarTalk conferences and trainings and participated in ACTFL sessions and other groups as well. He has helped many other programs with applying for StarTalk grants. During his leadership, the Urdu summer camp program saw unprecedented growth and demand for Urdu language in Texas, Missouri, and California. Since 2019, Shahid has managed 2 pilot Urdu programs in St. Louis, MO and the Bay Area, California. In 2020, he is working to develop Urdu classes in the Virginia/Maryland/DC area.

Ester Gagnon, MBA, joined the American Hungarian Schools Association (AMIT) in the fall of 2017. Her experience in the business world and interest in pedagogy have been a natural fit to guide organizational development, contracts, and technology implementation projects at AMIT. Currently, she is leading a global team of 30 to develop a path-breaking foundational heritage language program and corresponding software, to be launched in the fall, 2021. The team is expected to measure the results of this innovative program. 

Previously, Ester was the President of the Hungarian Club of Raleigh for 10 years and served as a Diaspora Council Member. During her leadership, the small group became a vibrant community. She has reached out to other Hungarian communities and was among the first to comprehensively digitize the global presence of Hungarian organizations. She started writing Hungarian instructions for children before the Triangle Hungarian School was formally established.

Her continued interest in sharing experiences with both American and Hungarian students was rooted long ago when she led a troop of youngsters, "kisdobos". Later, she served as an American Girl Scout Leader and than as a Junior Achievement volunteer, where she fostered entrepreneurship and financial literacy skills. Ester was also a logistics-supply chain instructor at the program start at Forsyth Community College. 

In 2018, the Hungarian Consul General presented Ester with a Certificate of Honor for her continued dedication to the preservation of Hungarian cultural values.

Ildikó Mónika Pataki was born and raised in Budapest, Hungary. She obtained her BA at the András Pető Faculty of Semmelweis University (formally known as International Pető Institute of Conductive Education for the Motor Disabled) in physical therapy and teaching. She moved to Berkeley, California in 1996, where she established a private school for children with cerebral palsy. She became a Visiting Assistant Professor at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where she made Conductive Education a reality for children with motor impairments by working to establish the first training program for conductor-teachers in the United States.

Ildikó moved back to California and, as a mother of 3 young daughters, she joined the local community-based Hungarian school and Hungarian Scout Troops and started to teach elementary school children. She has been teaching literature, grammar, history, and geography for the past 14 years. She serves as the President of the Executive Board of the school and helps organize activities and events for the Hungarian community. She became a member of the Hungarian Diaspora Council and represents the Hungarian organizations of Northern California at the annual conference in Hungary.

As a teacher at the Kányádi Sándor Hungarian School, Ildikó organized teacher training opportunities for Hungarian language teachers in the San Francisco Bay Area in collaboration with professionals from Hungary. She is a highly dedicated teacher and devotes her time to her students. Her mission is to create a fun learning environment where children establish an emotional connection to the language and master reading and writing while also learning about the culture of their homeland. She is passionate about teaching and loves working with young students. She strongly believes that besides being able to explain grammar concepts, a good teacher needs to be able to create a special connection with the students and construct a supportive and motivating environment for them. 

Katalin Petreczky was born and raised in Hungary. Currently, she lives in Long Island, New York. She obtained her B.A. in teaching German as a second language at Kossuth University in Debrecen, Hungary, and continued her studies in German as a Second Language, Germanistics, and Pedagogy at the University of Bielefeld, Germany. After moving to the United States, she joined the English as a Second Language (ESOL) program at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL). Upon completing the Literacy Suffolk Tutor training, she became an ESOL tutor at BNL, where she served an internationally diverse community.

Katalin's three children are members of the Hungarian Scouts Troop in Manhattan and have been studying in the Manhattan-based Arany Janos Hungarian Heritage School, where she worked as a teacher. Later, Katalin became the principal of the Hungarian school for five years. Katalin has also been teaching German as a Second Language at Deutsche Sprachschule Long Island (DSSLI), since the school was founded. Currently, she teaches German as a second language for adults and she is a member of the school’s executive board. She also teaches German as second language at her local public library.

Katalin has attended the German Language School Conference several times. These experiences inspired her to organize the first teacher development conference for Hungarian heritage language schools (AMIT), at the Consulate General of Hungary in New York, in 2013. Since then, AMIT has become a nationwide organization, American-Hungarian School’s Association Inc., of which Katalin is co-founder and co-president. AMIT has extended its involvement by annually organizing teacher development conferences, leadership workshops, and webinars for teachers and administrators of community-based heritage Hungarian schools. Katalin is also a member of the Hungarian Diaspora Council and represents the Hungarian Schools’ Association at the annual conference in Hungary.

Iva S. Youkilis is a Teaching Professor of Italian in the School for Languages, Literatures, and Cultures and is affiliated with the Global Health Scholar Program at the University of Missouri, Columbia. She has coordinated the elementary Italian language sequence and 300-level courses, administered and coordinated placement exams, served as a faculty liaison for student-organized groups, and participated enthusiastically in many extracurricular student-organized and community-based events. She has directed the Summer Language Institute in Italy for several years. At Washington University, she collaborated with a colleague in another language department to design and implement the annual Language Teaching Fair with the Center for Learning and Teaching. This initiative aimed to foster a greater sense of community among language-teaching faculty, promote sharing of best practices and technology-inspired pedagogical advancements, and create more opportunities for information sharing. She is the president-elect of the Foreign Languages Association of Missouri (FLAM) conference and serves as a member on the MLA Committee on Information Technology. Additionally, she is an ACTFL mentor for Italian, an advisor to the Italian club Italian per Piacere, and an active member in many other Italian clubs in the St. Louis region. She received her MA in Italian Literature from the University of Virginia. Before coming to Columbia, Missouri, she taught Italian at Washington University in St. Louis for 21 years, as well as at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor; the Community College in Royal Oak, Michigan; the University of Virginia in Charlottesville; and a Community School for Foreigners in Milan, Italy.

Naohiro Koshiya, Ph.D., is the Board Director Emeritus at Washington Japanese Heritage Center (Keisho Center). He received his B.L.A. from International Christian University and Dr.Med.Sc. from University of Tsukuba. He co-founded Keisho Center in 2004 to serve the community by providing Japanese language and cultural education to children and families in the Washington, DC metropolitan area and beyond.

Dr. Koshiya served as Associate Professor at Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute through 2010, and is currently Senior Research Scientist for the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health. He has published articles in academic journals such as Nature and PNAS, and has been an invited speaker at IBRO, IUPS, and other international symposia. He also serves the academic community as a publication referee-reviewer for several professional journals.

He is a member of the Society for Neuroscience; American Physiological Society; Japanese Society for Mother Tongue, Heritage Language, and Bilingual Education; and the Coalition of Community-Based Heritage Language Schools.

Tomonori Nagano, Ph.D., is Professor of Japanese at LaGuardia Community College, the City University of New York. He received a Ph.D. and M.Phil. in Linguistics from the CUNY Graduate Center and an MA in TESOL from New York University. He has written several articles on heritage languages, including the demographics of heritage language speakers in the U.S. (Modern Language Journal) and the teaching and learning of heritage languages at community colleges (Foreign Language Annals and Heritage Language Journal). He is a certified ACTFL OPI tester (Japanese) and a current board member of the MLA's ADFL Executive Committee. For more information about his research and publications, visit https://t-nagano.com/publications/.

Hanae Kim received her Ph.D. in Literacy, Language, and Culture at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). Hanae has taught both heritage and non-heritage students in a variety of settings, and her research interests include Korean as a world language education, heritage language education, Korean language teacher preparation, peer and parent support in language development, and school community collaboration. 

Yun J. Kim, Ph.D., is a professor of Linguistics at Emory University and the director of the Language Acquisition Lab. She specializes in first language acquisition. Her research areas are in word segmentation, phonology/morphology acquisition, artificial language learning, and second/heritage language acquisition. She is currently developing second/heritage language corpora in the Atlanta area. Dr. Kim has taught a seminar on heritage language learning and teaching, focusing on Korean, Japanese, and Chinese, which includes a service-learning module. Dr. Kim has been actively involved in community-based Korean heritage schools as a parent and a teacher.

Hye Young Shin received her Ph.D. in Multilingual and Multicultural Education from George Mason University and Master’s degree in TESOL from American University. As a native Korean, she has taught both heritage and non-heritage students in a variety of settings, including colleges, U.S. government facilities, Korean heritage schools, and K-12 public schools. To complement her classroom instruction, she has developed her own Korean language educational website and an online curriculum for upper-level Korean in Fairfax County Public Schools, Virginia. She has worked with Korean heritage school teachers while doing community outreach programs, providing several teachers’ workshops, and serving on the Education Advisory Committee for the Washington Association of Korean Schools. She is an ACTFL-certified Korean OPI tester and WPT rater. In addition, she holds a Virginia State Post Graduate Professional License (Korean) for preK-12. Her current research interests include retaining heritage language and culture among Korean immigrants, heritage language teacher education, language teachers’ identity, and Korean language pedagogy.

Neila Baumilienė is a native of Lithuania. She initiated the establishment of the Alexandra Kazickas Lithuanian Heritage Language Saturday School in Eastern Long Island, New York in 2006, with the goal of helping her own and local Lithuanian American community children to preserve their heritage and to learn Lithuanian. In 2011, after the passing of Mrs. Kazickas, Neila was invited by the Kazickas Family Foundation (KFF) to create the Alexandra Kazickas Grant Program (AKGP) to support 40 Lithuanian schools across the U.S., and became executive director of the KFF NYC bureau soon after. Over the past years, thanks to AKGP, the Lithuanian Heritage Schools not only received a financial boost, but also collaboration was strengthened between the Ministry of Education and Science of Lithuania and the Education Councils of Lithuanians in the Diaspora. Since 2014, AKGP has been supporting establishment of the Lithuanian Language Level Test for Youth, which is internationally recognized as a proficiency test for Lithuanian as a foreign/heritage/second language. Neila holds an M.A. in Ethnology (Cultural Anthropology) from Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania, and has a passion for languages.

Karen Thompson is the owner and teacher at norskpdx in Vancouver, WA. She was raised trilingual English/Norwegian/German in the Norwegian and greater Scandinavian communities in the Portland, OR, metro area. She attended the Norwegian summer language camps run by the Sons of Norway organization in Oregon and Washington as a child, then attended the Camp Norway summer camp in Sandane, Norway, in 1995. She has a background in Scandinavian genealogy and has taught language and genealogy classes since 1994, mostly through the local Sons of Norway lodges. Now she runs norskpdx, teaching online classes and offering tutoring help to children and adults, and also works with Avant Assessment in correcting Norwegian tests for the Pacific Northwest. She has also worked with various professional tutoring companies, including assisting with language training for the military, and regularly helps estate attorneys with Norwegian probate records. Karen has her B.A. in Education from Concordia University (formerly in Portland, OR) and has taught preschool at various childcare centers in the Portland metro area. She was Youth Director at the Sons of Norway Columbia Lodge in Vancouver, WA, from 2000-2004, and the Leikarringen (children's Scandinavian dance) Director at the Sons of Norway Grieg Lodge in Portland, OR, from 2005-2019.

Shahnaz Ahmadeian Fard, Ph.D. holds a Master of Arts in Policy Studies in Language and Cross-Cultural Education as well as a Ph.D. in Education. She is the Director of Programs at San Diego State University's Language Acquisition Resource Center (SDSU-LARC), where she oversees two grant-funded programs (STARTALK and SAILN). Since 2008, she has been involved in the SDSU-LARC STARTALK program. She has directed numerous STARTALK student programs and teacher workshops since 2013. In her capacity as director of the Southern Area International Languages Network (SAILN), one of the California World Language Project's sites, she oversees and manages their ongoing professional development programs and other activities. She is also the Vice Principal of the Iranian heritage school in San Diego, one of the largest and oldest Persian heritage language schools outside of Iran, with an average of 250 students enrolled each year. She has co-authored six textbooks designed specifically for heritage students for the school's beginner to advanced level courses, the majority of which are used by other heritage institutions around the world.

Farrokh Farrokhzad, Ph.D., holds a Bachelor and Master of Art in English Language and Literature and a Doctor of Education. He represents Persian (Farsi) and Azerbaijani Turkish (Azari) with the Coalition. He managed and directed language schools in the Middle East for 15 years and taught, supervised, and trained teachers Middle East public and private schools for 12 years. He is proficient in English, Persian, Azerbaijani or Azeri, also known as Azerbaijani Turkish (his mother tongue), and familiar with Arabic and French. His concentration in his doctoral research was on Phenomenological Insights into Farsi Heritage Language Maintenance Among Second-Generation Iranian Americans. He has been active with Teaching English as a Second Language (TESOL), TESOL Arabia, Association of Translators and Interpreters of Ontario Canada (ATIO), National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE), Southwest Educational Research Association (SERA), American Educational Research Association (AERA), and the Alliance Language Network. Farrokh has been teaching English literature as an adjunct professor, English Language Art and Reading (ELAR), and writing, English as a second language (ESL), English as a foreign language (EFL) in the United States since 2014.

Soheil Mansouri, Ph.D., teaches Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) courses at Webster University in Missouri, having taught previously at Florida State University. He earned his master's degree in Foreign and Second Language Teaching with the focus on TESL, and his doctoral degree in Curriculum and Instruction specializing in Foreign and Second Language Education from Florida State University. His research interests include heritage language learning and motivational factors in maintaining a heritage language; specifically, Persian heritage language maintenance, TESL methods, and second language motivation and maintenance. He has also served as a co-director and instructional lead of two fully granted STARTALK Programs, and site visitor and consultant for the STARTALK programs, which focuses on promoting the acquisition of critical languages in the United States. Dr. Mansouri has more than 15 years of teaching experience between the United States and Iran, including EFL instruction in elementary schools, ESL adult instruction at the university level, and TESL courses for both pre-service and in-service teachers seeking TESOL certification.

Marjan Rezvani founded FarsiSpeakingKids, an organization dedicated to promoting Farsi language and culture among children in the Washington DC area. Born and raised in Tehran, Iran, Marjan developed a profound appreciation for her Iranian heritage from an early age. After relocating to the United States, she recognized the importance of fostering a connection to Farsi language and Iranian culture among Iranian-American children. Through FarsiSpeakingKids, Marjan actively collaborates with local schools, community centers, and cultural organizations to create a comprehensive network of support for heritage language learners. She is dedicated to ensuring that children in the Washington DC area have access to enriching cultural experiences that help them develop a strong connection to their heritage and community. Marjan has successfully organized a wide range of engaging and educational activities tailored specifically to Iranian children. These activities include language classes, storytelling sessions, arts and crafts workshops, traditional music and dance performances, and festive celebrations of Iranian holidays. She teaches French at a Fairfax County Public School in Virginia and has been a teacher for the last 20 years. She holds a Master of Arts in French literature.

Fatemeh Towhidi is an assistant professor at the Defense Language Institute (DLI) Foreign Language Center. She has been working in the education field for the past 30 years in different countries including Iran, China, and the U.S. Her passion lies with language teaching and curriculum development, instructional design, and linguistics. She earned her first Master's degree in Linguistics from Iran, which led to directing teacher training programs for English language schools. Her second Master's degree is from George Mason University in Curriculum and Instruction, with a specialty in integrating technology into schools. She developed Persian-Farsi language curriculum for these programs: SOFTS (Special Operations Forces Teletraining System), SOCOM (U.S. Special Operation Commands), Headstart, and GLOSS, as well as Persian-Farsi language textbooks. Her third Master's degree is an MBA in Global Affairs, with research on Cyberschools and a virtual language learning focus. She has also been e-interning with the Virtual Student Federal Service, U.S. Department of State for the past 5 years, translating and analyzing articles from Persian-Farsi to English, and providing training to instructors for e-courses. She speaks Persian-Farsi, Dari, some Arabic, Chinese, Tajik, and Azari. Her goal is to connect heritage language speakers of diverse languages with native and second language speakers through language studies, technology, distance learning, and culture-language programs. Currently, she is working on her fourth Master's degree in cybersecurity at Bay Atlantic University in Washington, DC, and continuing to work on her PhD program in Education. She is also helping families and community schools with interpreting and translation services and with learning to work with new educational tools during this time of distance learning. She presented her recent paper, "Project-Based Learning: Alternatives to Study Abroad," at the National Heritage Language Resource Center (NHLRC) 2020 Project-based Learning Summit and a paper on Linguistic Landscapes at the 2020 LEARN Summit.

Benita Wojciechowski is owner-operator of an online Polish language program for adults, works at a Polish child center, and teaches children and youth at the Polish Language Center in Orchard Lake, Michigan. She was born and raised in Poland. She studied in Poland, Austria, and the United States. She received an Associate in Librarian Science, a Bachelor of Theology, and a teaching certificate in Zielona Góra, Poland. As a three-time scholarship recipient, she enhanced her English skills at the Language and Catechetical Institute and Ave Maria College, then obtained a Master of Theological Studies from the International Theological Institute in Gaming, Austria. She worked as a director of cultural and educational programs at the Piast Institute, a teacher and a private tutor in Polish and English to students of all ages. She served nine years as a librarian and a manager of the library foreign language department. As part of her role, she facilitated international webinars for teachers and organized and conducted language conversation groups and other cultural and educational events. During this time, she partnered with local schools, the University of Zielona Gora, the Library Development Program of the Information Society Development Foundation, and the Embassy of the United States. She received recognition for being the top promoter of the Angielski123 program and was the coordinator of the America@your library program.

Ivian Destro Boruchowski, Ph.D., is a professor of ESOL, Second Language Acquisition, and Bilingual Education at Florida International University and Nova Southeastern University. Her research focuses on literacy in multilingual settings, bilingual education, and heritage languages. She has designed and implemented World Language, Heritage Language, Dual Language Immersion, and Global Education curricula. Ivian is actively involved with worldwide Portuguese-speaking communities, raising awareness about bilingual education and heritage languages. In 2017, she received the "Most Relevant Publication for Portuguese Teachers" award from The American Organization of Teachers of Portuguese (AOTP) for being the primary author of a book written for families living abroad on developing and maintaining Portuguese as a heritage language. In 2014, she received an award as an FIU Worlds-Ahead Student.

Ana Lúcia Lico holds a master's degree in Linguistics and has been studying and learning about Heritage Languages and Cultures by carrying out community leadership projects and workshops for teachers. Her research focuses on heritage languages and the role of the family and community-based schools in the process of identity building for teenagers. Ana Lúcia is one of the founders of the Brazilian Association of Culture and Education (ABRACE). She’s also a member of the Citizens' Council of the Brazilian Consulate in Washington, DC, and a co-founder and board member of the Coalition of Community-Based Heritage Language Schools. In 2016, she received an award from the Brazilian government for her notable contribution to Brazilian cultural and educational diplomacy. In 2017, she received the "Most Relevant Publication for Portuguese Teachers" award from The American Organization of Teachers of Portuguese (AOTP) for contributing to a book written for families living abroad on developing and maintaining Portuguese as a heritage language.

Anna Budnyatsky is the director of the Russian School of Orange County. She came to the U.S. from the Soviet Union in 1988 and graduated from UCLA with a bachelor’s degree in economics. She later received an MBA and worked as a strategic consultant for the Eastern European markets from 1996 to 2002. Anna gave birth to a daughter, and was determined for Russian to be a main part of her daughter’s upbringing. She was discouraged to discover that there were no Russian schools in her area. As a result, Anna started the first Russian School in Orange County, CA with a small group called “Mommy and Me” in 2002. The school has become the largest and most prominent weekend Russian school on the West coast, with over 300 students. It provides children, ages 2 to 17, with subjects such as Russian language, Russian literature, history, geography, mathematics, physics, drama, dance, music, journalism, and the arts. The school provides a strong academic program with a multitude of extracurricular events. In 2015, the Russian School of Orange County was awarded first place for the best Russian school in the U.S. for its achievements in promoting Russian language and culture.

Marija Petrovic is one of the founding teachers of the School of Serbian Language and Culture in San Diego, California. She teaches Serbian as a heritage language at the school and also develops curriculum and coordinates professional growth activities. She holds a Master's degree in Applied Linguistics from San Diego State University (SDSU) and a Bachelor's degree in Teaching English Language and Literature from her native Serbia, where she worked as a language instructor and an interpreter. Since completing the SDSU Master's program, she has gained extensive experience in teaching English for Academic Purposes to speakers of other languages, as well as linguistics, English, and ESL. Her research includes genre analysis, discipline-specific vocabulary, and discourse analysis of law school lectures, which she has presented and published. She is the organizer of the First Annual Seminar for Teachers of Heritage Languages Less Commonly Spoken in the San Diego Area, gathering teachers from Bulgarian, Czech, Greek, Polish, Russian, and Serbian schools. She is the mother of three young children and enjoys spending time at the beach with her family.

Teresita Juliet Eldredge is an American Fulbright Scholar who participated in the Distinguished Awards in Teaching Short Term Program in Uzbekistan; she is also an English Language Specialist for the U.S. Department of State. Eldredge is currently the Supervisor of World Languages for the Bilingual/ESL/World Languages Program at the Jersey City Public Schools in New Jersey; the school district serves nearly 30,000 students and is one of the most culturally diverse cities in the United States. She is also a part-time lecturer at the Urban Teacher Education Program Rutgers University-Newark since 2016, and she co-authored the course of study for the English as a Second Language & Bilingual Teacher Certification Program in 2018. She has taught: Curriculum & Instruction and Understanding Educational Evaluation; and she currently teaches: Introduction to English as a Second Language (ESL); Principles of Foreign/Second Language Acquisition; and Language and Culture. She is passionate about multilingualism and wrote a featured article: The Power in Language Education as Critical Pedagogy: Changing the Multilingualism Mindset, in the WATESOL journal, Spring 2024.

Eldredge is an international teacher trainer and a seasoned presenter at national and international teacher conferences. She has conducted training on Problem-Based Learning at the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP) conference in Mexico; spoke on her expertise in language acquisition curricula at a discussion panel for the Eighth Heritage Language Research Institute at Harvard University; provided training to English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers at the Peruvian Police Academy on the integration of technology in teaching and learning; and participated in the K-12 Educators Study Tour to China sponsored by the Confucius Institute of Rutgers University in cooperation with Jilin University, China. In addition, she is a Language Representative for the Coalition of Community-Based Heritage Language Schools since 2018 and was the Conference Chair for the Applied Linguistics Winter Conference 2021 for the New York State TESOL Conference.

Jennifer de Lima is a board member of ISLA (Immersion for Spanish Language Acquisition). ISLA is a nonprofit organization in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, that seeks to strengthen Latino children and their families through innovative Spanish immersion programs. ISLA includes a Saturday Spanish heritage language program, now serving over 160 students and their families. Jennifer is founder of Immersion Island, which offers language immersion camps and experiences for children and adults, also in North Carolina. She has taught middle school Spanish in Chapel Hill area schools for over 20 years. She has international business and nonprofit experience in California. She graduated from the University of California, Irvine, in Spanish Literature and Language. She also speaks fluent Portuguese.

Mariano Alejandro Escutia Ochoa, Ph.D. (Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Metropolitan Autonomous University, UAM, Mexico City)is a professor in the Language Faculty of the Autonomous University of Baja California (UABC) in the city of Tecate. He teaches courses in Spanish discourse analysis, syntax, and morphology. As part of this program, he is doing a dissertation focused on the teaching of Spanish as a heritage language in a binational region, San Diego and Tijuana.

Mariano specializes in geolinguistics, bilingualism, and heritage languages. He earned a Bachelors's Degree in Language Teaching (2016) and a Master's Degree in Modern Languages (2018) at UABC. He is the leader of the Foreign Languages Academy at the Facultad de la Ingenieria y Tecologia (FCITEC-UABC), and he has implemented new strategies to teach language to commuter students.

Vetriselvi Rajamanickam founded California Tamil Academy (now International Tamil Academy, ITA) and presently serves as the President of the ITA Board and Head of Curriculum at ITA. She holds a postgraduate degree in History from Bharathidasan University, India.

At ITA, she provides leadership and management for all academic areas by overseeing and coordinating with volunteers. As Head of Curriculum, she drafts and presents budget plans for the resources needed to develop the curriculum to ITA's board. She also identifies appropriate volunteers to build the curriculum, creating a sustainable team. In this role, she coordinates with different groups and international book writers to determine the appropriate curriculum for the excellent grade. She explores various country texts, exercises, essays, and story books and interacts with book writers, developers, animators, printers, and shipping facilities. As Textbook Development Team Lead and Coordinator, she is the liaison between book authors and ITA teacher volunteers and is responsible for developing ITA textbooks. She continuously explores new techniques, books, and trainers to create a compelling and evolving curriculum.

She spearheads the organization and development of international Tamil education conferences to bring in new teaching methods, tools, and techniques. ITA is a progressive organization, constantly staying relevant to the needs of the diaspora. ITA’s goal is to create teaching methods that would be acceptable to the future generations, which may or may not have any links to Tamil Nadu, yet preserve Tamil language, culture, and the rich roots. The persistence and desire for Tamil and culture drove her to build a homegrown teaching experience to a fully-fledged Tamil institution.

Vetriselvi also serves as the Chairman of Parivallal Matriculation Higher Secondary School, India, a non-profit school. Her father, Shri Madhavan, founded this school in her village to provide rural children with an education similar to well-run schools in large metros. The belief is that providing quality education to these rural children from impoverished families can equip them with the ability to compete with students from large cities. She has been involved in school funding and operations for 35 years, focusing on progressive teaching methods, while being understanding of rural kids and their economic situation. By managing to get well-wishers worldwide to help fund the operations, her school has one of the best results in the region and has produced many students who have moved out of poverty and, in turn, their families and communities have as well.

She is the Founder of Ulaga Tamil Magalir Mamandram, UTAMAM, which is a non-profit organization created by a group of women of Tamil origin. The organization’s goal is to educate, empower, and elevate South Asian women worldwide through mentorship, establishing support networks, and organizing individualized fundraisers. Ultimately, the organization wants to recognize and celebrate the achievements of South Asian women and provide them with the tools they need to actualize their dreams.

Vetriselvi serves as the Director of Operations at T2 System Pvt Ltd., which is a Singapore-based entity managing investments in companies outside of India. She serves as the Director of Ponni Tech Pvt Ltd (Malaysia), which is a consultant company for OSAT that helps to build the factories. She also serves as the Director of Ponni Tech Pvt Ltd (India), a real estate and investment company, which focuses on consolidating and looking into potential startups that will benefit the larger society.

Sornam Sankar, Ph.D., is a native Tamil speaker who, along with 2 others, founded the first 100% volunteer-run community-based weekend school in Maryland, TALENT (Tamil Language Education and Training). He has been teaching Tamil language for middle and high school level students for the past 17 years.

When his daughter started going to public school at around age 6, he realized that she was going to lose her mother tongue, Tamil, which is one of the 7 classical languages in the world that is still spoken and has retained most of the vocabulary from its classical form. He decided to start a community-based school and also create an immersion environment by volunteering his whole family for most Tamil-related activities in this country. His family has been dedicating most of their leisure time to many organizations like American Tamil Academy, Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America, Washington Tamil Sangam, Tamil Nadu Foundation, International Educational Foundation, International Medical Health Organization, Tamil Media International, and International Forum for Information Technology in Tamil. Currently he is serving as the secretary of the Trust organization called Tamil Chair Inc., which successfully raised $6 million to establish a permanent Tamil Department at Harvard University, Boston.

Dr. Sankar holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, and later received a M.S. in Computer Science from Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. He is currently working as Vice President of Architecture in a multinational bank. He is also exploring development of community-based resources for teaching Tamil and training teachers in the United States to teach it.

Rajaram Srinivasan served as a President of Tamil Sangam of Greater Washington, a non-profit international cultural and language organization, from 2017 to 2018 and as Director of the Tamil Sangam of Greater Washington board from 2014 to 2019. He successfully organized and celebrated the official Thai Pongal, recognized by the Commonwealth of Virginia in 2018 via Valluvan Tamil Academy. He has coordinated several Tamil Arts and Cultural programs and Tamil scholars’ and artists’ toursto the U.S. to exchange Tamil tradition and heritage in the U.S.

He served as a volunteer with the Maryland Tamil Academy (MTA), a non-profit organization for educating students in Tamil classical language and culture since 2010, and they have established a Foreign Language general elective credit system for Classical Tamil Language with Montgomery County Public Schools for high school students to obtain General Elective Credit and the state of Maryland Seal of Biliteracy.

He served as a Delegate (Representative of tristate Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia) at the Federation of Tamil Association of North America (FeTNA), from 2019 to 2023, and as a volunteer at the 10th International Association for Tamil Research (IATR) Conference in Chicago. He helped with travel arrangements for all of the Tamil scholars who traveled from all over the world to attend the conference in 2019. He proudly represents the American Tamil community at the Embassy of India in Washington DC and coordinates community collaboration and support systems with the Embassy officials.

He has served as a Coordinator for the 1st official visit of the Government of Tamil Nadu, India to the United States to launch the “Yaadhum Oore” program in 2019, to promote Tamil Nadu as the best state in India for investment and job creation opportunities. He has coordinated with the government of Tamil Nadu officials, Embassy of India, Consulate General offices in New York and San Francisco, American Tamil Community via FeTNA , and the investment community for a successful launch of the program in New York and San Francisco.

He was born and grew up in a rural village of Silamalai near the western Ghats of Theni District, Tamil Nadu, India. He studied at the village government school until high school and then graduated in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Bharathiyar University, Government College of Technology in Coimbatore. He is an Engineering graduate and Facilities Management professional, with 29 years of engineering experience and 25 years of experience in the Facility and Asset Management of Hospitality industry. He has worked with Marriott International for 22 years as a Director of Engineering. He loves to engage in community service, travel, hiking, and music.

Sumathi Venkatapathy (Padmanaban) is based in the San Francisco Bay Area region. Meeting Vetriselvi Rajamanickam (Founder and President of the California Tamil Academy (now International Tamil Academy, ITA)) lit the brightest spark for her 25 years of volunteering for California Tamil Academy and the related Tamil school services. With the desire to somehow teach her daughters to read and write in Tamil, Sumathi started volunteering in California Tamil Academy in 2000, from the second year since its inception.

Sumathi works as a Biotech scientist in the San Francisco Bay Area and lives with her two daughters and her husband, Mr. Padmanaban, who is a software professional. She has served at ITA as a volunteer Tamil teacher at all levels from Kindergarten to eighth grade, as a secretary on ITA Board, and as a principal in two schools. She has contributed to the efforts of Curriculum Development and Books Committee, which focuses on creating curricula for the educational needs of diaspora students. She serves in the Progressive Education and Standards team to bring new initiatives in Progressive Tamil Education.

She is currently serving as an ITA consultant for International ITA-affiliated schools and team lead for Heritage Language teaching. Her biggest love is teaching her Preschool class on Sundays, where the focus is language acquisition using stories, songs, drama, games, culture, and laughter. Her purpose is to provide a Tamil learning environment and to inspire and motivate students to be engaged in Tamil learning and proud of their cultural identity. She says positive attitude, encouragement, and enthusiasm from other volunteers keep her motivated to continue to teach and improve Tamil learning.

Kanjana Hubik Thepboriruk, Ph.D., is a professor of Thai Language at Northern Illinois University (NIU). She received her linguistic training at the University of Wisconsin – Madison and at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Her research explores the various manifestations of “Thainess” and how it is understood, transmitted inter-generationally, performed, and regulated both in Thailand and in the diaspora. She currently teaches all levels of Thai at NIU and works with the Thai-American communities to advance the teaching of Thai as a heritage language. Dr. Kanjana originally hails from Bangkok, Thailand, and grew up in the Midwestern United States, giving her a first-hand perspective of Thais in the diaspora and Thai as a heritage language. In the future, she hopes to expand her work to Thai diasporas outside of the United States. In her free time, she enjoys exploring new cuisines, dances, music, and cultural landmarks.

Nataliya Havdyda, Ph.D., is the Principal of Taras Shevchenko School of Ukrainian Studies in the Washington, D.C. area and a Ukrainian language instructor at the Ukrainian Institute of America in New York. Many of her students learn Ukrainian as a heritage language. Nataliya was born and raised in Ukraine, where she completed advanced education as a teacher of Ukrainian Language and Literature, a teacher of ESL and Foreign Literature, and a doctorate in Comparative Literature at the Ukrainian Studies Center of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. Until 2022, she worked as an Associate Professor at the Ternopil Ivan Puluj National Technical University in Ukraine. She is the author and co-author of more than 60 publications on Ukrainian literature and culture and methods of teaching the Ukrainian language in an English-speaking environment. She is the author of the monograph, Literary and Painting Discourse of the Creative Works of Bohdan Lepky and co-author of the textbook, Ukrainian Language for Foreigners, Level B1-B2.

Her strategy of teaching the Ukrainian language at all levels, including as a heritage language, is based on communicative strategies in the context of Ukrainian studies, which is an integrated discipline that combines history, literature, art, music, philosophy of mentality, and peculiarities of national cuisine.

Christina Pikhmanets was born and raised in Ukraine. She received her first Masters degree in Linguistics from Ivan Franko National University in Ukraine, followed by CELTA (Certificate of English Teaching to Adults) from the University of Cambridge. After moving to the United States, she received her second Masters in TESOL and Bilingual Education. At the same time, she started working as an Assistance Principle at the Saturday School of Ukrainian Studies in Manhattan, New York. She became a member of the Ukrainian Educational Council "Shkilna Rada" and took an active part in Hromada (the Ukrainian community of the United States). Christina is also a Ukrainian Language Instructor at the Ukrainian Institute of America located in New York, New York. Her academic interests are teaching Ukrainian as a heritage and foreign language, methodologies of teaching bilingual children, and curriculum development and materials creation.

Mariya Udud is the Vice Principal at the Ukrainian Heritage School in Jenkintown, PA, where she previously taught culture studies. Originally from Ukraine, she holds a BA (Honors) in Elementary Education and an MA (Honors) in Culture Studies. After relocating to the U.S., Mariya continued her educational journey, earning two Montessori certifications (children ages 0-6). She currently works as a Montessori teacher and is an active member of the American Montessori Society. In addition to her primary role, Mariya volunteers as a speaking buddy for Ukrainian adult learners abroad at ENGin and serves as an English-Ukrainian subtitle translator for TED Conferences.

A strong advocate for lifelong learning, Mariya's professional interests include integrating multilingual approaches into the curriculum and creating materials that promote intercultural awareness. Her two sons are being raised bilingual, both at home and in weekend school settings, with a deep connection to and appreciation of their Ukrainian heritage.

Irade Kashgary was born in Gulja, the Uyghur Region of China, and raised in the United States since the age of five. A heritage speaker herself, she was excited to co-found Ana Care and Education, a Uyghur cultural and linguistic weekend school in Northern Virginia, alongside her mother, Sureyya, Kashgary, in hopes to empower the next generation of Uyghurs to learn their mother tongue. With a bachelor's degree in Computer Science and experience as a senior analyst, she manages operations at the Uyghur school while teaching and advocating for Uyghur language preservation. From collaborating with Uyghur schools nationwide to engaging with global advocacy groups and platforms like the United Nations, Irade is committed to fostering a globally connected youth who are passionate about their heritage and their efforts to learn, preserve, and improve their Uyghur language proficiency!

Sureyya Ablimit Kashgary came to the U.S. in 1999 with her family. Since then, she has been active in Uyghur language education for people in the diaspora. Because there were not many Uyghurs overseas at the time, her work encompassed small acts within the community, such as being an interpreter for newly immigrated Uyghurs who were struggling with the language barrier, and assisting with their children’s registrations for school, doctor appointments, etc.

She had always wanted to have a large-scale school to teach the Uyghur language systematically and, at the same time, introduce Uyghur culture to the world. In 2017, fulfilling her long-awaited dream, she founded Ana Care and Education, a school focusing on teaching the Uyghur language as well as Uyghur history, arts, and culture. The curriculum includes Uyghur language courses for students of different ages, Uyghur dance, soccer, and more. Now the school has grown drastically, with 9 teachers and more than 100 students. Students include not only Uyghurs but also foreign friends who are interested in the Uyghur language and culture. The work of this group extends beyond the classroom to cultural events both within and outside the Uyghur community .

Sureyya was born and raised in Ghulja city. After finishing high school in Ghulja, she went to Shanghai Normal University and earned a Bachelor's in History. After graduating, she worked for 7 years as an editor at the Xinjiang publishing house. Then to pursue higher education, she went to Ankara University, where she studied for a Masters in general Turkic history.

Danthu Pham has a minor in Vietnamese and obtained her B.S. in Human Services at California State University, Fullerton (CSUF). She is currently pursuing a blended Multiple Subject and Education Specialist credential after completing a Masters Degree in Dual Language Development at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB). She has worked for the Orange County Department of Education, Newport-Mesa Unified and Huntington Beach Union High School Districts in supportive roles, including translating, interpreting, and teaching. During her three years as an undergraduate, she had an inter-session, and studied Life and Culture in Hanoi, Vietnam, and interned during the summer at the Center for Partnership of Development (Global CAD) in Barcelona, Spain. As part of the project Towards the Human City with Global CAD, which aims to identify, document, and communicate initiatives that make significant improvements in the ways we think about and manage cities in order to make them more human and inclusive, she took part in narrating the transition process that Hoi An and Da Nang cities in Vietnam are experiencing in order to integrate citizen’s concerns and respond to social challenges. As a community activist, Danthu has worked as a youth employment assistant at the Orange County Asian Pacific Islander Community Alliance during her high school years.

She has also worked as the secretary for the Vietnamese American Chamber of Commerce for 2 years, where she helped multiple entrepreneurs and small businesses flourished within the Little Saigon area. Danthu builds bridges and fosters understanding among diverse communities of people as a student and member of professional organizations, including the California Association for Asian and Pacific American Education (CAAPAE) and the Center for Exceptional Children (CEC). She was involved with Project Motivate as a mentee and the Vietnamese American Arts & Letters Association in creative projects such as Project Foto and Youth in Motion. In 2014, she was chosen in the Top 20 Union of Vietnamese Student Associations of Southern California’s Miss Vietnam Southern California pageant. Academically, at the college and post-baccalaureate level, Danthu received The Vietnamese American Exemplary Student Award 2015-2016 and 2017-2020. While in college, she interned for the National Resource Center for Asian Languages and was responsible for developing the programs such as the children's writing book contest, to support the ongoing need for literacy and linguistic resources.

Huy Phung, Ph.D. (University of Hawai'i at Mānoa), is a language educator with extensive experience. He has taught Vietnamese at various U.S. universities and English to college students in Vietnam. His work also includes training pre-service and in-service language teachers in both countries. Dr. Phung's research interests include second language acquisition, task-based language teaching, heritage Vietnamese, and bilingualism. He is currently a board member of the Group of Universities for Advancement of Vietnamese in America (GUAVA).

Masako Douglas, Ph.D., is Professor Emerita at California State University, Long Beach. Her research interest is on Japanese heritage language (JHL) development and education. She has been working on constructing and applying a theoretical framework to JHL curriculum design (grades K-8 and college courses) and has developed curricula and instructional videos for community-based JHL schools and JHL college courses. She has publications on JHL young learners' language background, JHL acquisition, JHL literacy, and JHL pedagogy. She conducted research with her colleagues on young JHL learners' language development in an immersion program and at a community-based JHL school. She is one of the founders and currently the Chair of the JHL SIG of the American Association of Teachers of Japanese. She is also one of the founders of an online refereed journal, JHL Journal: Working Papers of Japanese Heritage Language Education. She is a board member of the Coalition of Community-Based Heritage Language Schools, and the Bilingual Multilingual Child Network in Japan. She is a recipient of the American Association of Teachers of Japanese 2012 Teacher Award.

Izabela Przybyla holds a Master's degree in Pedagogy from the five-year program at the Pedagogical University of Krakow. She further enhanced her education by completing ESL classes at DePaul University in Chicago and obtaining postgraduate diplomas in MBA and Project Management from Loyola University. She also participated in methodological workshops focused on "The Polish Diaspora Teacher Facing Contemporary Educational Challenges," led by lecturers from Jagiellonian University.

She has 20 years of teaching experience in Polish supplementary schools abroad and served as a Board Member of the Polish Teachers Association in the United States.

In 2013, she founded the Polish Language School of King Casimir the Great in Orland Hills, Illinois, where she serves as Principal. The school was launched in the 2013/2014 academic year, with 48 students. Under her effective leadership, the school has experienced dynamic growth, currently serving over 600 students and employing 25 teachers.

In 2017, she established a strategic partnership with the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin in Poland, a collaboration that directly supports the academic growth of the students at her school. Her professional and academic pursuits continue as she commenced her doctoral research at the same institution in 2024, where her work is dedicated to scientifically analyzing the evolution of Polish diaspora education in the United States. Teaching Methodology: She prefers active learning methods that effectively stimulate students' logical and creative thinking. Her work is characterized by immense satisfaction and allows for the full realization of her professional skills. She organizes classes to be filled with a welcoming atmosphere, prioritizing the transmission of knowledge in a manner accessible to students. She firmly believes that the most critical elements in teaching are passion, professionalism, empathy, and competence, and that it is essential to inspire young people to pursue their own inquiries and cultivate a desire for independent knowledge acquisition and wisdom.

Tahira Anwar is Founder and Executive Director of the Urdu Academy of Maryland. Living in the United States for more than 50 years, she has dedicated her life to promoting and developing engagement with the Urdu language. She has taught Urdu at multiple schools in the D.C Metro area. She has authored a story book, developed curricula for teaching Urdu, and designed learning materials for children who are learning Urdu as a second language. She is also serving on the executive board for Circle of Rights, a non-profit organization that helps create stroke awareness and prevention in Montgomery County, Maryland.

The website, Urdu Academy of Maryland, is rich with books and activities for learning Urdu. It is definitely worth visiting.

Mary Sakyi is a Twi language teacher, translator, and cultural advocate from Ghana. With several years of experience teaching Twi to children and adult learners, she is passionate about preserving Ghana’s linguistic and cultural heritage. Mary has developed beginner-level Twi lesson plans, facilitated translations and transcriptions, and supported community-based language projects in Ghana. As the Twi Language Representative for the Coalition, she is dedicated to connecting Twi-speaking communities, documenting Twi language schools, and promoting the study and appreciation of Ghanaian languages globally.