The Confianza Team
LEADERSHIP
SARAH BERNADETTE OTTOW | DIRECTOR OF PROFESSIONAL LEARNING/CHIEF ACADEMIC AND EXECUTIVE OFFICER
A professional development specialist and change leader who is passionate about supporting and improving cultural understanding, communication, and collaboration, Sarah Bernadette enjoys working in public and private schools, universities, non-profit organizations, and corporations across the US and internationally. Since 2000, Sarah has designed & facilitated high impact learning experiences for K-12 students and adults from over 40 different language groups. Sarah is proudly a first-generation college graduate and a nationally recognized woman-owned small business owner.
Sarah founded Confianza in 2015 and she is the author of The Language Lens for Content Classrooms Guidebook (1st and 2nd editions).
EMIL KRASIĆ/ЕМИЛ КРАСИЋ | CHIEF OPERATIONS, TECHNOLOGY & INFORMATION-SECURITY OFFICER
With his 20 years of engineering experience in the corporate space, Emil brings his knowledge and skills of management, engineering, and technology to Confianza. As a first generation Serbian American, Emil understands firsthand many of the cultural and linguistic challenges populations face in schools and in society. Having effectively led culturally, linguistically and neurodiverse engineering teams, Emil is excited to bring his passion for systems design, leadership, and democratic schooling to current and future clients in the US and internationally. Additionally, Emil’s experience as a music teacher gives him insight into changing educator practice.
Contributors
MARGIE KIRSTEIN
Margie Kirstein holds an M.A. in Applied Linguistics and Ed.D in Leadership in Urban Schools, and has worked for over 30 years as an ESL teacher, instructional coach, and teacher trainer. Currently she helps develop pre- and in-service ESL teachers at Lesley and Framingham State Universities. During the pandemic, Margie became certified as a Life and Spiritual Coach and Meditation and Mindfulness Teacher and seeks to use her insights and expertise to help create classrooms that are beneficial to students of all backgrounds and identities.
JESSE MARKOW
Jesse Markow is currently an independent consultant, bringing his expertise gained from 18 years of K-12 classroom experience, over 30 years of work in student assessment, 11 years directing state relations and development at WIDA, and many years of adult education experience and consulting. He currently serves as an advisory member of the National Association of English Language Program Administrators (NAELPA) and chair of the Standards, Assessment and Policy committee.
MARIA LEE
Maria Lee is a former English Language Learning teacher who taught for 19 years. She pursued her interest in writing blogs when she retired in 2019. Maria has created and managed educationblogdesk.com to help educators improve student learning. Her goal is to help, inspire, and teach.
SARAH SAID
Sarah Said is an educator who has served in various roles: Teacher, Assistant Principal, Dean, Curriculum Coordinator and Multilingual Coordinator. Sarah is an advocate for the students she serves and is a strong voice in education. She has been published in various publications such as Learning for Justice, EdWeek Teacher, The Teaching Channel and here on Confianza.
ELLEN PARKHURST
Ellen Parkhurst holds an M.A. in Curriculum and Instruction and has been supporting educators for over 20 years. She has been an ELL teacher in both Spain and North Carolina, and continues to teach ELs part-time in her home state of Maryland. She has worked with Confianza since 2017, initially as a facilitator of online courses, and more recently as an instructional coach for individual teachers and teams of co-teachers. She is also a WIDA Licensed Facilitator and has provided countless PD sessions on WIDA’s standards and assessments in the U.S. and Internationally. Ellen loves supporting teachers in a collaborative way and sharing best practices for MLL and ALL students.
DALILA MENDOZA
Dalila L. Mendoza holds an M.A. in Curriculum and Instruction and has worked for over 20 years in a public-school setting. Dalila's experience with English as a second language began with her parents who immigrated here from the Azores, Portugal with Portuguese is her first language and English is her second language. Dalila uses her experience as a student in a bilingual setting and a child of immigrants to advocate for students learning English to be the most successful in school. Previous to taking her current position as MLL Program Director in Taunton Public Schools, MA, Dalila has been a bilingual teacher, second and third grade teacher, instructional coach in both math and literacy, and an assistant principal.
Rebecca Westlake
Rebecca Westlake brings over 15 years of experience as a teacher, instructional coach, building and district leader of Multilingual Learner, Dual Language, and Bilingual Education. She has served multilingual students and families in Massachusetts urban communities, as well as in D.C public schools, and in Madrid, Spain, in dual language, general education, and Sheltered English immersion settings. She holds a Masters in School Leadership from Harvard Graduate School of Education. She speaks Spanish and English and believes deeply in the power of teachers, families, and community to bring about positive change.