Rebecca Vonderlack-Navarro Receives 2018 TESOL Outstanding Advocate Award

TESOL International Association (TESOL), a global association representing approximately 12,000 English language educators worldwide, awarded Rebecca Vonderlack-Navarro with TESOL’s 2018 Outstanding Advocate Award. The award is presented annually to a public official or other individual outside the TESOL profession that has advocated for English learners, ESL instruction, and English language educators. Rebecca was nominated for this honor by Illinois Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages – Bilingual Education (ITBE) for her work in advocating for the needs of all Latinos and English learners, and ensuring they receive access to high quality education programs throughout Illinois.

Rebecca Vonderlack-Navarro manages the Latino Policy Forum’s Education team. With a focus on birth to third grade issues, the Forum’s education agenda advocates for all Latino and English Learners to have access to high quality care and education services that are linguistically and culturally responsive in an effort to close the opportunity gap. She manages a team of four who lead efforts in three areas: family and community engagement and capacity building; equitable access and resource distribution; and pre- and in-service educator preparation.

In the past year, Rebecca through her work with the Forum has played a major role in protecting the interests of Latino children in public schools by contributing to school funding reform and school funding equity.

Currently, Rebecca and her team are working on issues around bilingual education teachers, retention and recruitment to ensure that the fastest growing segment of students in public schools (English learners) are being taught by professionals with the cultural understanding and linguistic skills to be effective in the classroom.

Rebecca’s numerous speaking engagements, publications, and advocacy efforts provide thoughtful consideration about the interconnectedness of language, literacy and academic achievement. Rebecca also provides immigrant parent workshops to discuss how various policy changes influence the education of English Learners.  As a state-appointed member of the Illinois Advisory Council on Bilingual Education, Rebecca led efforts to advise the state on how English Learners are considered within the Every Student Succeeds Act. She also published the input of more than 300 immigrant parents across Chicago about their perspectives of the new law.  

Rebecca earned her PhD from the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago. Her academic efforts were focused on the community organizing and bi-national political incorporation of Mexican immigrants in Chicago. Along with publishing a number of academic journal articles and book chapters, Rebecca’s dissertation was published as part of a book series, The New Americans, Recent Immigration and American Society. Prior to her studies at the University of Chicago, Rebecca was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to support qualitative research exploring the economic and political impact of a microcredit program on its participants at a community development agency located in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Learn more about Rebecca by clicking here.