Ana Arévalo

Ana was born in El Salvador, she and her family of 5 left their country during the civil war. As a native Spanish speaker and immigrant, Ana brings a unique perspective to education, she strives to foster inclusive and safe learning environments for students of diverse backgrounds. With a mastery in education, her focus is creating opportunities for students to feel ownership and belonging, ensuring their voices are heard and their assets acknowledged and respected. Ana’s passion as an educator and life coach lies in empowering people to realize their full potential, become lifelong learners, and emerge as leaders of their communities.

Jenna Cushing-Leubner

Dr. Jenna Cushing-Leubner is an Associate Professor of Curriculum & Instruction (Multilingual Language Teacher Education) at University of Wisconsin, Whitewater and has a PhD in Curriculum & Instruction (emphasis Second Languages Education) from University of Minnesota, where I specialized in heritage language education and community-driven theories of change in multilingual education. I coordinate the language teacher education programs at UW-Whitewater (World and Heritage Language Education, Bilingual/Bicultural Education, and TESOL). I developed and coordinated the online national Heritage Language Education Professional Development Program. I also teach “Critical Approaches to Heritage Language Education” with the CARLA Summer Institutes for Teachers at University of Minnesota every summer since 2015. My research focuses on heritage language and culture reclamation education, particularly with less commonly taught, displaced, and refugee communities. I am not a member of these communities and have been grateful to be invited and allowed by community members to do this research for more than a decade.

Zenebech Demissie

Zenebech Demissie is an Ethiopian American who has resided in Minnesota since 1986. Zenebech did their undergraduate and graduate at the University of Minnesota. Their years of connection with both the civic and religious community with Ethiopian families gave them the opportunity to focus on teaching directions. As part of the teaching strategies, Zenebech founded the first partnership between the Faze community and Minneapols Public Schools.

Norma C. Garcés

Norma C. Garcés is a talented bilingual, bicultural educator and accomplished leader with a long history of working with youth of color and their families, going back over 30 years.  Her leadership within the Latine/Latinx community has grown over the years due to highly visible opportunities to influence the politics and education of Minnesotans.  A highly respected leader in the Minnesota Latino community as well as nationally recognized for her pedagogical philosophy, Ms Norma currently serves as the Executive Director of Academia Cesar Chavez.

Suyon Kim

Suyon is a licensed Korean language teacher in both Korea and Minnesota, with an MA from Ewha Woman’s University in Seoul. Initially an event planner, she transitioned to teaching to maintain her children’s cultural ties after a prospective move to the US. Her educational career started at Korea Aerospace University and Dongguk University in Seoul, South Korea in 2016. Since moving to Minnesota in 2018, she has worked at Sejong Academy Korean Immersion School and is currently a teaching specialist at the University of Minnesota. Suyon is also involved in the STARTALK program at Concordia Language Villages, teaching Korean language and culture, and is passionate about fostering Korean cultural understanding among her students in Minnesota.

Haiyun Lu

Haiyun has been an educator since 1993. She is a certified Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) teacher from Brown University. She is also certified in Advanced Education Leadership from Harvard University.  She is passionate about employing Acquisition Driven Instructions (ADI) in her classes and implementing mindfulness in education. She is a well sought-after ADI trainer nationally and internationally.  She is the co-founder of the Comprehensible Midwest Conference, Ignite Chinese and Learn Together Academy. She is a columnist for Intrepid Ed News.  She is a blogger and writer; she has written 16 storybooks in Mandarin. When she is not teaching, she likes to hike, meditate, walk her dog, drink tea with friends, enjoy a good meal with family and watch her son playing video games.

Antoine Mefleh

Antoine began his language career at Berlitz School of Languages where he taught private Arabic and French language lessons. He also translated for private and public institutions in Minnesota. He started the first Arabic language programs offered at Macalester College and North Central University in Minneapolis.  As part of the federally funded Critical Languages Program in Minneapolis Public Schools, he fostered the establishment of the first elementary, middle and high school Arabic courses offered in Minneapolis Public Schools

Hibaq Mohamed

Hibaq Mohamed has been the assistant principal at Highland Park Middle for the last 4 years.  Prior to St. Paul Public Schools,  she worked in Minneapolis Public School as content lead for secondary ELA and Reading in the Teaching and Learning Department. She has been an educator for 17 years as a classroom teacher, an administrator, and support staff. Hibaq will begin her role as Principal at Highland Park Middle in 2024-25 school year. As a Somali native, she is excited to support the heritage language work.

Deqa Muhidin

Deqa is a mother to three beautiful children. She is a language enthusiast and a heritage language proponent. Deqa has always believed in heritage language preservation, but she was compelled to act after struggling to teach her children Somali. In an ideal world, schools would offer opportunities for children to interact with their mother tongue, whether in formal learning settings or through books (audio and print) made available to them. 

See Pha Vang

See Pha Vang is an educator with Saint Paul Public Schools for the last 30 years. See has taught both English general education and Hmong Dual Immersion classrooms. Currently, See is a Teacher on Special Assignment managing, coordinating and  supporting PreK-12 Hmong Dual Language Program Articulation Pathway. See has worked with the Minnesota Department of Education to develop the assessments for the Seals of Biliteracy for Hmong. 

Pang Yang

Pang Yang is a dedicated multilingual veteran teacher, the mother of seven children, and currently the Executive Director of MN Zej Zog.

Her 26 years of K-Higher Education classroom experience includes the teaching of English Language Learners and Hmong Heritage Language Learners.

Hsakushee Zan

Hsakushee is currently working as a bilingual educator in the Office of Multilingual Learning, Saint Paul Public Schools. This is her 15 years in St. Paul school. She is part of the Karen language development team and also a Karen Bilingual Seal rater in Minnesota. Hsakushee also serves on the Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans board and the Karen Parent Advisory Council at Saint Paul Public Schools. She earned her Associate Degree from Saint Paul College, BA in Political Science from University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, and M.S. Ed in Counseling from University of Wisconsin River Falls. She is in the process of starting her Ed.D program at Concordia University, Saint Paul in the fall of 2024. Hsakushee  always sees education as the path forward, and she always believes education is a key to opportunity.