I am currently working as the executive director of the BUENO Multicultural Center for Education at the University of Colorado Boulder. BUENO stands for Bilinguals United for Education and New Opportunities and the acronym also works in Spanish too, Bilingües Unidos Para Educación y Nuevas Oportunidades.

I received all three of my degrees from CU Denver (BA in Psychology, MA in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis on Bilingual Education, Teacher Certification [K-6], Doctorate in Leadership for Educational Equity for Latin@ Learners and Communities), and all prepared me for the current work I am doing in some way.

Most recently my doctoral program, which focused on leadership for equity in sustaining culture and language, increasing equity in schools, employing critical research methods, developing an asset-based/antiracist education and innovating and contributing towards equitable and just educational systems, all contribute to my daily work. At the BUENO center our mission is to promote and advocate for equitable education for culturally and linguistically diverse learners, families, and educators that serve them. We envision schools and communities where learners of all languages, identities, and abilities can reach their full potential. The research we conduct focuses on bilingual, multicultural, and special education from PK-adulthood and we facilitate professional learning from GED to PhD and professional learning opportunities for practitioners and educational leaders.

In addition to the content learning from my studies at CU Denver, the context learning that took place was equally as valuable and beneficial. The relationships formed with my peers, professors, and colleagues (I was employed at CU Denver at the time I obtained my doctorate) were instrumental in supporting me and helping me navigate through the doctoral program, and through the writing of my dissertation. I belonged to the Doctoral Students of Color Group, and the network and support system the organization provided---and continues to provide---were invaluable to my success. In this community, we were able to have in-depth discussions about the theories and concepts we were studying, our experiences and challenges with the program, provide support to each other regarding classes and writing the dissertation, and celebrate our milestones and successes. Together, we had to navigate and advocate to make some modifications to enhance our experiences, and we developed crucial leadership skills and ways to sustain our identities in the process.

The courses that focused on Latin@ learners and communities were compelling, particularly the courses that center the experiences of the diverse community of Latin@s. In one of my courses, our professor allowed us to write our papers/discussion threads in Spanish, which was the first time in my entire school trajectory that someone valued my native language and encouraged us to write and respond in Spanish. It was nice to see culturally sustaining pedagogy in practice in academia and I continue to strive to create that culture in my current work.

I am thankful to have had the opportunity to be a part of CU Denver, and that this doctorate program recognizes that for some educators and leaders, we must continue to work full time and this program is designed for us to have the same opportunity and access to a doctorate degree. These are essential elements of walking the talk of a socially just and equitable education.