Our mission is to elevate and honor the languages and cultures that live in our cities. We do this by advancing the availability of cultural and language education programs that reflect and benefit all community members. We accomplish this through partnerships with schools and education systems to help ensure access to well-prepared teachers capable of providing bilingual and bicultural teaching. Our work focuses on education by maintaining a bilingual and bicultural teacher pipeline that supports the creation and sustainability of representative language programs.
Our vision is that all children, regardless of language and cultural background, will learn in schools where they can see, hear and learn from certificated teachers who look and sound like them. Further, we see these children growing up in and proudly contributing to a society that benefits from the gifts that their linguistic and cultural heritage make possible.
We work with school districts and other organizations to provide access to high-quality programs delivered in their culturally relevant languages. Such programs include dual language, bilingual, world language, and cultural enrichment programs.
We develop and maintain a pipeline of well prepared teachers; we also foster the development of networks of current and future teachers, educational and community institutions, and others involved in the work of advancing cultural and linguistic representation.
We also provide opportunities and support for future teachers and collaborate with training programs to foster interest and success in the culturally and linguistically relevant teaching.
We also provide consultation and information to multiple audiences including and beyond those in the education community.