Meet Our 2026 Spring Conference Keynote Speakers
We are so excited to announce our Keynote Speakers for our 2026 in person Spring Conference Unlock Your Potential: BE Multilingual. Join us as we celebrate 50 years since NJBE joined NJTESOL!
Tuesday, May 19 – Dr. Margarita Machado-Casas
Dr. Machado-Casas is a nationally and internationally recognized scholar in bilingual, multicultural, and transnational education. She is a Full Professor at San Diego State University and currently serves as President of the National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE). Her interdisciplinary research focuses on immigrant, Indigenous, Afro-descendant, and multilingual communities, exploring identity, agency, literacy, family engagement, and equitable assessment. Dr. Machado-Casas holds a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she earned the prestigious IMPACT Award. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Frank Porter Graham Institute in collaboration with Duke University. With over 80 publications—including the award-winning Handbook of Latinos in Education—she is also co-editor of widely adopted texts on bilingual education. A community-engaged scholar and policy leader, she has advised ministries of education across Latin America and co-developed the first multilingual master’s program for Afro-Indigenous communities in Nicaragua. In the U.S., she co-founded CUPE and BESO, the country’s largest bilingual student organization, and served on the Biden-Harris National Education Policy Committee, helping shape policies on educator diversity. She is Founder and CEO of ISET Pathway and President of Global Supply Exchange, both focused on advancing educational access and equity. A proud Afro-Indigenous migrant and mother of three, Dr. Machado-Casas is committed to uplifting marginalized voices in education through real-world advocacy, research, and leadership.
Wednesday, May 20 – Dr. Elsa Cárdenas-Hagan
Elsa Cárdenas-Hagan, Ed.D, is a Bilingual Speech Language Pathologist and a Certified Academic Language Therapist. She is the Director of Valley Speech Language and Learning Center in Brownsville, Texas which was established in 1993. She also works with Texas Institute for Measurement Evaluation and Statistics at the University of Houston. Dr. Cárdenas-Hagan is the author of Esperanza (HOPE), a Spanish language program designed to assist students who struggle with learning to read. Her research interests include the development of early reading assessments for Spanish-speaking students and the development of reading interventions for bilingual students. She was the co-principal investigator of a longitudinal study funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the Institute for Education Science that examined the oracy and literacy development in English and Spanish of Spanish-speaking children. She serves as the Vice President for the International Dyslexia Association and has authored curricular programs, book chapters, and journal articles related to oracy and literacy development for English language learners.
Thursday, May 21 – Dr. Sharroky Hollie
Dr. Hollie is a national educator and author known for his passionate advocacy of culturally and linguistically responsive teaching practices. With over three decades of experience in education, Dr. Hollie has dedicated his life to promoting the validation and affirmation of underserved students by providing professional development to thousands of educators in the area of cultural responsiveness. After beginning his career as a classroom teacher at the middle and high school levels, he became a professional development coordinator in Los Angeles Unified School District, a school founder and administrator, and a tenured professor in teacher education at Cal State University. Sharroky has also been a visiting professor for Webster University in St. Louis and a guest lecturer at Stanford and UCLA. As the founder and executive director of the non-profit organization, The Center for Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning (The Center), Dr. Hollie has been instrumental in empowering educators in effectively engaging students from diverse backgrounds. Since 2004, The Center has impacted and influenced hundreds of school districts in the US and Canada and thousands of educators with the concept of cultural and linguistic responsiveness. He expresses gratitude “for the opportunity to commune with my colleagues in this work and to collaborate on ways we can collectively create pathways to better our work for all those we serve.”
