Dr. Lisa Gonzales

Nury Castillo Crawford is a mother of three sons, life-long educator, published author and entrepreneur. She was born in Peru, South America and emigrated to the USA with her family as a young girl. The transition to a new environment, language and culture was a shock to her, but with the love and support from her parents, she thrived and grew up to be successful.

1010 Publishing is a bilingual, publishing company born out of her desire to help others in the process of seeing their personal literary works transformed into a published project. Simultaneously ensuring stories of exemplary caliber are accessible to speakers of other languages. She has a sincerely personal dedication to multilingualism. She believes culture and language are interconnected and wants to promote, support and encourage the understanding and love for both.

Her first book, 3,585 Miles to be an American Girl, is a bilingual children’s book inspired by her own personal journey. A story of a little immigrant girl from Peru. It shares the challenges as well as the love and support she received from her family during her first year in a new country.

Nury’s second book, published March 2019, Plant the Seed Well… Expect Wonders, is a book written to empower parents. It’s filled with parenting tips, strategies and short stories parents will find relevant and non-judgmental. It will be available in English and Spanish.

Nury is also considers herself a lifelong learner and educator. She currently holds a director of academic support position for a metro Atlanta school district and is the president of the Georgia Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents.

You can connect with Nury Castillo Crawford on all social media platforms, as well as www.1010Publishing.com

Dr. Humphrey is on a mission to help people grow personally and professionally.  Trained in counseling and educational leadership, she has a unique 16-year background working in non-profit, education, counseling, and leadership. She has presented at both state and national conferences on the importance of understanding and working with marginalized youth. Dr. Humphrey was a school counselor for seven years, where she served as the president of the Maryland School Counselor Association, conference chair, and treasurer. She is now an Assistant Principal at a High School, where her leadership skills are used both in and out of the school. She works with her community and continues to advocate for those who do not always have a voice. She is a licensed clinical professional counselor in the state of Maryland, where she works with immigrant families and children. Dr. Humphrey hopes to inspire, educate, and lead others to reach their best self. 

Dr. Gil Garcia, a Venezuelan-American professor, five-time Fulbright Scholar, is an internationally acclaimed professional, published author and an esteemed community leader and forerunning advocate for diversity.  A Chicago resident, she works tirelessly for community organizations devoted to women and children rights and Latino leadership parity. Among her multiple awards, she is one of the 100 most influential Hispanics in the USA (2010), one of the 30 Outstanding Visionary Women in higher education (2014), Distinguished Woman in Education (2015) and one of the 50 more influential Latinos in Chicagoland (2017).  She has taken effective actions on the empowerment of Latina women through higher education, the development of junior faculty, teacher and principal preparation, the promotion of coalition among Hispanic professional educational organizations and the creation of international bridges for minority students. Her lobbying for Latino leadership parity, equity in education and digital access for Latinos in education crystalized on the launch of a principal endorsement program for Latino teachers to close the existing gap of Hispanic school leaders needed in Chicago Public Schools in which 49% of the student population are Latinos. To support the previous initiative, she co-founded the Illinois Latino Coalition of Education Leaders (ILCEL) to maximize efforts in educational issues affecting the Latino education community. Her defense of democracy has brought recognition from diverse human rights groups.  She is the co-founder of the Illinois Venezuelan Alliance a not-for-profit organization to denounce the existing Venezuelan humanitarian crisis. Dr. Gil-Garcia’s image served as one of the Rotary International faces of the “Humanity in Action” world-wide campaign to fight poverty.  

Dr. Irella S. Perez's journey from non-English speaking immigrant to Superintendent of Schools, adjunct professor, board of trustee for Whittier City School District, candidate for State Senate, and children’s book author, is an all-American story of self-reliance fueled by perseverance, passion and conviction.

Born and raised in Nicaragua, Perez came to the United States with her family at the age of 15. She is a latina Chinese-American, her grandfather having been born in Canton, China. Because of that upbringing, this single mother encourages her four children, one of whom has special needs, to learn Spanish and Chinese to ensure that her ancestry remains a vital part of her family.

Perez earned a Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from California State University Long Beach and a Doctorate in Education from the University of Southern California.

In Dr. Perez's eyes, the future of education is filled with promise. Having devoted more than 25 years as a public school leader and advocate, she proudly proclaims, “Education is my life. It's a personal mission and I never lose sight of that."

Lorraine Cruz

Danay Escanaveriono