Meet Blanca

Born in Mexico, Blanca immigrated to the United States at the age of eight, entering school as an English language learner during a time when bilingual education did not exist. She was placed in a “sink or swim” classroom environment where she experienced firsthand the challenges faced by students navigating a new language without support: a formative struggle that now fuels her mission to reshape educational equity.

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Her journey as a bilingual classroom teacher revealed systemic gaps in equity of instructional materials and professional development focusing on multilingual best practices. Determined to bridge this equity gap, Blanca began translating, designing and creating language friendly materials that gave her students access to high level engaging instruction. Working as a mentor to many new teachers the inequity was a repeated challenge that was present during trainings, coaching and supporting students. An equity gap that she continues to challenge through her advocacy and writing.​
 

Previously, Blanca held pivotal roles with Chicago Publish Schools, including English Learner Instructional Specialist, Network Literacy Coach and School based coach. Her expertise extends to higher education, having served as Adjunct Faculty at the University of Illinois at Chicago where she taught and mentored new and veteran teachers in courses like Children’s Literature, Bilingual Methodologies, Unit Design and Reading courses for graduate level students. Blanca has also presented at conferences like La Cosecha, NABE and Illinois Multilingual addressing topics like El Puente, Vocabulary development, Interdisciplinary Concept Unit Design, Biliteracy strategies, etc.
 

Blanca’s story from young English Learner to award winning consultant and author stands as a testament to the transformative power of education that honors every student’s language, culture, and potential.