Amber Malik Sheikh, Ed.D., is a visionary educator, social entrepreneur, and passionate advocate for civic and cultural education. As founder of two Dallas-based non-profits, GEM Academy and ALIA, an accredited world language school offering Arabic, Hindi, and Urdu, she creates transformative learning experiences that empower students through experiential learning. With more than 20 years of experience leading innovative education projects and curating global travel programs, Amber is dedicated to preparing students to become confident global citizens and leaders who can succeed in a connected world. She holds a Doctorate in Education and Organizational Leadership, a Master’s in Hospitality and Asset Management, and a Bachelor’s in Accounting and Marketing. She is especially focused on advancing access to heritage language education. She seeks to collaborate with other accredited heritage language schools in Texas to advocate for the recognition of heritage language credits by the Texas Education Agency. She envisions a future in which all school districts provide students the flexibility to study their heritage languages while earning world language credits in middle and high school.