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.