José Antonio Tijerino is president and CEO of the Hispanic Heritage Foundation (HHF), a national nonprofit focused on education, workforce, social impact, and culture through innovative leadership. HHF under Tijerino’s leadership is recognized as a creative, agile, impact-focused organization recognized by The White House, US Congress, Fortune 500 companies, other nonprofits and the Government of Mexico. Tijerino is also executive producer of the Hispanic Heritage Awards at the Kennedy Center, which are broadcast on PBS.   

Prior to HHF, Tijerino was an executive at Fannie Mae Foundation, Nike, Burson Marsteller, and Cohn & Wolfe. He was honored with the Ohtli Award, Lifetime Achievement Award by National PTA, Vision Award by Silicon Valley Latino Leadership, MALDEF Award for Human Rights, Community Service Award from Telemundo, Civilian Impact Award by US Army, Brillante Award by National Society of Hispanic MBAs, Digital Hero Award by MMTC, and Hispanics in Philanthropy, among others. 

Tijerino has served on various boards and committees including Harvard’s Latino Leadership Initiative at Harvard’s Kennedy School, University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business, University System of Maryland Foundation, Hispanic Technology and Telecommunications Partnership (HHTP), National Girls Collaborative, Games for Change, CSforAll, KID Museum, and Nielsen’s Latino Advisory Counsel, among others. 

As a proud immigrant from Nicaragua, Tijerino help found the Hispanic Leaders Alliance with the NFL, the American Project, #WeDreamAmerica campaign, #Masks4Farmworkers which provided more than 2 million masks for farmworkers during pandemic, READ (Refugee Education And Development), DREAM LEAD Institute for DACA recipients, and helped produce the Oyeme! Project with Imagination Stage portraying the plight of unaccompanied minors.  He was recognized by FWD.US for his work with migrant families on the border, and is a Salinas Fellow at the Aspen Institute. Recently, Tijerino co-founded the LOFT (Latinos On Fast Track) Institute.   

Tijerino is an Influencer on LinkedIn and his blogs and media presence have made him a national voice on various issues including diversity, immigration, creativity and youth empowerment.  He earned a BS degree from the University of Maryland’s school of journalism, and was honored with a Doctorate of Humane Letters from The Chicago School.  Tijerino lives in Washington, DC.  

Gilberto P. Lara is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Bilingual and Bicultural Studies at the University of Texas at San Antonio. He has 15 years of emergent bilingual education experience in dual-language, sheltered contexts, and teacher education settings. A former bilingual and ESL classroom teacher, he holds a PhD from the University of Texas at Austin in Bilingual/Bicultural Education. He earned master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Boise State University in Education with concentrations in Bilingual Education and ESL Methods. His research interests are to explore the pedagogical practices of teachers in dual language/EL classrooms and the incorporation of community cultural wealth through the use of multicultural children’s literature. He spent his childhood in both the United States and Mexico and considers himself bilingual-bicultural-biliterate.

David Martínez-Prieto is an assistant professor at the Department of bilingual and literacy studies at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. His research concentrates on the identities of pre-service and in-service language teachers at the intersection of neoliberalism, neocolonialism, nativism and racial ideologies in the United States and Mexico. He holds a Ph.D. in Culture, Literacy, and Language from the University of Texas San Antonio. His work has been published in important venues, such as TESOL Quarterly, the Journal of Latinos and Education, the International Multilingual Research Journal, and Education Policy Analysis Archives. David likes swimming and taking naps.

Omar Serna is a graduate student at TCU currently studying for a Ph.D. in Curriculum Studies. He is the recipient of TCU’s Stipends to Attract Remarkable Students (STAR Program) and is a proud AACTE Holmes scholar. His research interests are at the intersection of language, race, education, and transnationalism.

José Luis Cano Jr. is the assistant director of the Center for Digital Expression at Texas Christian University and the incoming assistant professor of rhetoric, composition, and literacy at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. At the US-Mexico border, Cano researches college writing, immigration enforcement, digital photography, and folklore. Previously, he worked as a qualitative researcher and high school teacher.

Frank Hernandez serves as Dean of the College of Education at TCU. Prior to his work at TCU, Dr. Hernandez served as Associate Dean & The Harold and Annette Simmons Endowed Chair in Educational Policy and Leadership at the Simmons School of Education at Southern Methodist University. Prior to that, Dr. Hernandez served as Dean of the College of Education at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin (Odessa, TX). Dr. Hernandez’ research work has focused on four areas of inquiry: Latinos and school leadership, Latino racial identity development, inclusive leadership for LGBTQ students, and leadership for social justice. He has published extensively on Latino leadership, including two books: Abriendo Puertas, Cerrando Heridas (Opening Doors, Closing Wounds): Latinas/os Finding Work-Life Balance in Academia (With Elizabeth Murakami and Gloria Rodriguez) and Brown-Eyed Leaders of the Sun: A Portrait of Latina/o Educational Leaders (with Elizabeth Murakami).

Dr. Hernandez is a founding member of Deans for Impact, an organization focused on transforming educator preparation and elevating the teaching profession. Dr. Hernandez is a graduate of the 2016 class of Presidential Leadership Scholars, an initiative that draws upon the U.S. presidential centers of Lyndon B. Johnson, George H.W. Bush, William J. Clinton, and George W. Bush. He is a 2014 graduate of the Millennium Leadership Initiative. He serves as an Associate Editor for the Journal of School Leadership. Dr. Hernandez received his Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Steve Daniel Przymus, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Bilingual Education and Educational Linguistics at Texas Christian University (TCU). His training includes a doctorate in Second Language Acquisition & Teaching (University of Arizona, 2016), being a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer (Dominican Republic, 2003-2005), a Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching Grantee (México, 2010), and 28 years of teaching at the middle school, high school, and higher education levels. His 30 publications investigate translanguaging, bilingual special education, sociolinguistics, metonymy in linguistic landscapes, and the education of transnational youth. His 2nd book, American Education Mythologies: A Remythification of the Public Language of U.S. Schools, was published in 2024 with Cambridge Scholars Publishing.  

Melissa E. Mendoza serves as the Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow in Bilingual Special Education at Texas Christian University. Her research focuses on inclusive education policy implementation, teacher education for inclusive learning environments, and the student transition from school to employment. Dr. Mendoza completed her doctorate in Comparative Education in the School of Education and Information Studies at University of California, Los Angeles and received the 2023 Department of Education Award for Outstanding Ph.D. Dissertation.

She is a former special education teacher and has worked in teacher education supporting novice and pre-service dual language and general education teachers in the field for over five years. She is a Fulbright scholar and was a fellow at the WORLD Policy Analysis Center twice, focusing on inclusive education for people with disabilities, gender equality in education, and approaches to special education services.