Achieving Educational Equity
for New York City’s Newcomer Students(Webinar, December 13, 2023)

PANELISTS

Natasha Quiroga

Lara Evangelista

Ivonne Mora

Melissa de Leon

Dr. Lisa Auslander

María Rocha-Carrillo

Assemblywoman
Catalina Cruz

Alejandra Vázquez Baur

Aqdas Shahnoory

MODERATORNatasha Quiroga
Director of Education Policy andInsideSchools, The New School’sCenter for New York City Affairs

Natasha Quiroga is Director of Education Policy and InsideSchools at the New
School’s Center for New York City Affairs. She brings almost 20 years of experienceadvocating for children, youth, and families to these roles. Most recently, she was
Director of the Parental Readiness and Empowerment Program (PREP) and SeniorCounsel in the Educational Opportunities Project at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil
Rights Under Law, where she developed and successfully expanded national
initiatives fostering parental leadership in education. Over the course of more than
10 years’ leadership at the Lawyers’ Committee, she provided extensive and expert
analysis for parents, educators, and legislators on issues impacting the education ofstudents of color, immigrant children, multilingual learners, and students withdisabilities. Natasha also served as the first full-time Executive Director of Escuela
Bolivia (now Educación Para Nuestro Futuro) in Arlington, Virginia, and advised
state and local education agencies on compliance with federal education laws at an
education law firm.
Natasha received her J.D. from American University’s Washington College of Law
and her Master's in International Politics with a concentration in Children and Youth
Development from American University’s School of International Service. She
received her B.B.A. in Marketing and B.A. in Plan II Liberal Arts at the University ofTexas at Austin. She is a 2017 Presidential Leadership Scholar.

SPEAKER 1

Lara Evangelista
Executive Director of the Internationals
Network for Public Schools

Lara Evangelista is the Executive Director of the Internationals Network for Public
Schools, an educational nonprofit that partners with schools and districts to develop
inclusive and equitable programs for their adolescent, newcomer, multilinguallearners. As the child of immigrants and a first-generation college student, she feels
passionately about this work. Prior to this role, Lara spent 28 years serving MLL
students in New York City Public Schools. This included teaching and leading inthree different International High Schools and being a founding team member of
The Flushing International High School in 2004. Lara was appointed principal ofFlushing International in September 2011 and worked throughout her 8-year tenure
to develop a culturally responsive environment for the young people in the FIHS
community. Most recently, she was the deputy superintendent for the Consortium,
Internationals, and NYC Outward Bound Schools, a 48-school high school district in
New York City. Lara holds degrees from Georgetown University, New School
University, and is a doctoral student at Teachers College, Columbia University.

SPEAKER 2Ivonne Mora
ESL / Literacy teacher, InternationalCommunity High SchoolIvonne Mora has been a high school ESL / Literacy teacher in the South Bronx for
11 years at International Community High School. She has engaged in curriculum
development for Students with Interrupted or Limited Formal Education(SIFE/SLIFE) for 8 years. Ivonne is a model teacher at ICHS and mentors newteachers at the school as well as new teachers to the profession. She is a recent
Bank Street School of Education graduate in their Progressive Educational
Leadership program sponsored through the NYC DOE as Leaders of Education
Apprentice Program (L.E.A.P.). In recent years, she has focused her energy indeveloping equitable structures to support literacy instruction and development at
her current school, International Community High School.

SPEAKER 3

Melissa de Leon
Principal, International High School at
Lafayette (IHSL)Melissa de Leon is the Interim Acting Principal at the International High School at
Lafayette (IHSL), in Brooklyn, NY. She joined the leadership team as AssistantPrincipal in July 2022. Prior to joining IHSL, Melissa served as a citywide
Instructional Lead for the New York City Department of Education, coaching teacher
teams and school leaders from across different districts. In this role, she also
supported schools through coaching cycles focused on Multilingual Learner needs
and designed literacy professional development for teachers. Before that, Melissa
worked in a range of teaching and instructional leadership roles for over thirteen
years within schools in the Internationals Network. She began her education careerat the International High School at Prospect Heights, where she taught ELA andSocial Studies to 9th through 12th graders. From there, she joined the International
High School at Union Square as an instructional coach, working with teachers
across disciplines and expanding literacy intervention opportunities for 11th-12thgraders. Melissa graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor ofArts degree in History. She holds her Master of Science in Teaching English toSpeakers of Other Languages from Long Island University (Teaching Fellows) and a
Master of Arts in Educational Leadership: School Building Leader, from New York
University.

SPEAKER 4Dr. Lisa Auslander
Senior Project Director at Bridges toAcademic Success

Dr. Lisa Auslander is the Principal Investigator and Senior Project Director atBridges to Academic Success, a City University of New York-based project at theGraduate Center, where she leads the curriculum, professional learning andevaluation teams, designing and evaluating resources for teachers of Students with
Interrupted and Inconsistent Schooling (SIFE) and entering newcomer multilingual
students. In this role, she works with schools and districts throughout New YorkState and other parts of the country on their school improvement plans formultilingual learners. Lisa is the co-author of School-wide Systems for Multilingual
Learner Success: A Roadmap for Leaders and several peer-reviewed articles.

SPEAKER 5

María RochaCarrillo
NYC Program Specialist, ImmSchools

From Torreón, Coahuila, México, María immigrated to the United States at the ageof three and was raised in a small Texas Hill Country town where she later moved toSan Antonio, TX with her family at the age of 10.
As an undocumented student, she encountered numerous obstacles while seeking
opportunities in higher education upon graduating high school in 2005. In May 2012,
María received her Bachelor's Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from theUniversity of Texas at San Antonio but her aspirations in becoming a bilingual
educator and obtaining her teaching credentials seemed nearly impossible due toher immigration status. In the fall of 2012, María received DACA which authorized
her to pursue her career in education and later joined Teach for America in 2015
where she taught in early childhood, elementary, and middle school. In 2018, she
received her M. Ed. in Educational Leadership from the University of Texas at San
Antonio and continues to advocate early childhood education, dual-language
programs as well as providing equitable educational opportunities for all students
regardless of their immigration status. In 2021 María moved to New York City toteach in a Montessori classroom setting and has recently transitioned out of theclassroom after 7 years.
Currently, María is the Program Specialist for ImmSchools working towards
transforming schools into safe and welcoming spaces for undocumented students
and families.

SPEAKER 6

Assemblywoman
Catalina Cruz
New York State Assembly District 39

Catalina Cruz has the privilege of representing New York State Assembly District 39, one of the mostdiverse districts in the nation, encompassing the neighborhoods of Corona, Elmhurst and Jackson Heights,
as well as parts of Middle Village and Rego Park. Catalina was born in Colombia and came to Queens at
the age of 9. She grew up as a DREAMer, living in the United States for more than 10 years as an
undocumented American. Catalina was raised by a single mother who, like many immigrants, had to work
multiple and menial jobs to support her family. As a single mother of four children, she worked long hours
during the week as a nanny, cleaned offices at night and sold tamales and empanadas at the soccer fields
on the weekends. Inspired by her mother’s perseverance, Catalina has committed her career to fighting forour community to ensure our workers, neighbors and families not only survive, but thrive. Catalina is anexperienced attorney and a leader for tenant protections, immigration reform and workers’ rights. Prior tobecoming the Assemblywoman for the 39th District, she practiced housing law and served in various
positions in city and state government, including Chief of Staff to former Council Member Julissa FerrerasCopeland, Counsel to the City Council’s Committee on Immigration and Director of the Governor’s
Exploited Workers Task Force, among others. In these positions, she represented tenants in housing court,drafted legislation and implemented initiatives to support women, protect workers and champion small
businesses. Since taking office in 2019, Catalina has passed more than 20 new laws to combat foodinsecurity, curtail the high cost of healthcare, protect aging New Yorkers and so much more.
Catalina helped secure billions of dollars for schools, hospitals and libraries within her district throughhistoric state budgets. This funding helped with renovations and the purchase of equipment, as well as toprovide services for seniors, families and children throughout her community. Catalina’s district officeplaces a strong emphasis on constituent services. Her hardworking staff is proud to have helped thousandsof constituents access legal services, small business support, obtain unemployment insurance, healthinsurance and pandemic assistance, as well as help with mortgage, rent and utility payments. In thecommunity, Catalina and her team address quality of life issues such as garbage, graffiti and snow removal
through close cooperation with community boards and city and state agencies. Catalina also conducts
dozens of community events yearly, including back-to-school/backpack parties, community cleanups healthand legal clinics and so much more. Catalina lives in Jackson Heights, Queens. She holds a bachelor’s
degree from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a Juris Doctor from the City University of New
York’s School of Law. She is admitted to practice law in the State of New York.

SPEAKER 7

Alejandra Vázquez
Baur
Fellow at The Century Foundation,
Co-founder of National Newcomer
NetworkAlejandra Vázquez Baur is a fellow at The Century Foundation, where she manages
the Bridges Collaborative, an initiative that champions school integration. In 2022,
she co-founded the National Newcomer Network, a coalition that brings together
over 100 educators, researchers, and advocates who are invested in developing
systemic solutions to address newcomer student inequity in K–12 schools. An
inaugural Obama USA Leader and former teacher, her work has been featured by arange of media outlets, including Chalkbeat, the 74 Million, K–12 Dive, Education
Week, and POLITICO. Alejandra is a proud granddaughter of Mexican farmworkers
and holds degrees from Claremont McKenna College and Columbia University.

SPEAKER 8Aqdas Shahnoory
Eleanor Roosevelt High School 11thgrader, New York City Schools

Aqdas is a 17 years old student from Afghanistan. She has been living in
the US for seven months now.
“I had a two-years of interruption in my schooling, but luckily I'm now ajunior in high school. I'm really passionate about government
administration and human rights. They're my favorite fields of study.”