BOARD
OF DIRECTORS

Dr. María J. Vargas is a visionary leader in bilingual policy and student advocacy. As Professor Emerita from St. Augustine College and former Chicago Board of Education member, she has spent decades dismantling barriers for multilingual students. Dr. Vargas was the architect of foundational board policies that mandated bilingual services and championed African-centered and multicultural curricula. Today, she serves as the founding Chair of Multilingual Chicago, where she promotes the Seal of Biliteracy. With a Ph.D. from DePaul University and a global presence in organizations like NABE, ACEI and OMEP, Dr. Vargas remains at the forefront of the movement for educational equity and linguistic diversity.

As an educator, Julio Cruz has been a lifelong advocate for bilingual and multicultural education. For thirty-two years he worked for the Chicago public schools as a teacher, administrator, principal and district superintendent. Dr. Cruz also worked ten years as an adjunct professor at Northeastern Illinois University. Julio is past President of the Illinois Association for Multilingual Multicultural Education (IAMME), the National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE), and Multilingual Chicago (MLC). He is the person mostly responsible for introducing the Seal of Biliteracy to MLC and lobbied for passage of the law at the Illinois legislature. Although he has been recognized by many different organizations, he is most appreciative of being selected in 2020 for NABE’s prestigious Ramon Santiago Award. 

Julio Cruz is a graduate of Northeastern Illinois University (BA), Loyola University Chicago (MEd) and Peabody College of Vanderbilt University (EdD). 

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Elizabeth Murphy served as the Library Director for St. Augustine College from 2007 to 2018.  She is currently working at Wauconda High School in the EL department as a language assistant.  She earned her MLIS at Dominican University and also has a MA in Linguistics from Northeastern Illinois University. Elizabeth has been a member of Multilingual Chicago since 2011 and is deeply committed to Multilingual education.  Elizabeth also enjoys gardening and volunteers for Natural Habitat Evanston and Rewilding Evanston.  

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Sharon Saracco has worked in the Special Education field for her entire career.  She has worked with students of all ages, has been a Behavior Analyst as well as a classroom teacher.  Most recently Sharon has worked for the Special Education District of Lake County at Gages Lake School which is a therapeutic day school.  She has a BA in Special Education and earned a Master's Degree in Early Childhood Education from Northeastern Illinois University. Sharon has been a member of Multilingual Chicago since 2012.  Sharon retired in 2019 and enjoys traveling, reading, gardening, and, most of all, spending time with her three young grandsons. 

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Luis Alfredo Narváez Gete is the Associate Vice Chancellor for Adult Education at the City Colleges of Chicago, where he leads the English as a Second Language and High School Equivalency programs. In his previous role as Project Director for 10 years at the Chicago Public Schools he led the Seal of Biliteracy initiative recognizing the biliteracy skills of students in 5th and 8th grade level as well as graduating high school seniors, while promoting college awareness to bilingual, immigrant, and Latinx students across the city. He has a BA in Latin American & Caribbean Studies and Spanish from the University of Illinois and an MA in Educational Leadership through the ENLACE Leadership Institute at Northeastern Illinois University. He lives in Chicago's west side with his wife, Claudia, a CPS teacher, and their two lovely boys. He is completing his doctorate degree at National Louis University in Educational Leadership. Mr. Narváez is a member of Multilingual Chicago. ​​​

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Dr. Zuzana Gorleku has been teaching ESOL courses to current Illinois teachers
enrolled in a master’s program at Concordia University for 14 years. She has lived, worked, and studied in three different countries and has experience teaching in the Eastern European, British, and American educational systems where she was able to
implement various teaching methods and best practices in foreign/second language instruction. Prior to joining the CU faculty, she was an ESL/BE Adjunct Professor at East-West University, St. Augustine College, and has taught in the Teacher Preparation
Program at National Louis and DePaul Universities all in Greater Chicagoland area. She completed her graduate studies at Safarik University in Slovakia and was awarded a Ph.D. degree in Teaching ESL/EFL, and a M.Sc. Degree in Secondary Education from
Loyola University in New Orleans. She has also completed course work at the
University of Newcastle Upon Tyne in Great Britain. She shares her extensive teaching, learning, and diverse experience from three educational systems with her students. She is an avid reader and learner of foreign languages; she enjoys reading books of multicultural authors that provide her with a deeper understanding of her students' cultures.

Adriana Delgado is a Chicago-based educator from Ecuador specializing in Spanish language instruction and multilingual pedagogy. Her professional experience spans the educational spectrum, from early childhood to college levels.
 

She holds a Master’s degree in Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language and is
currently pursuing a PhD in Education and Technology. Drawing from her perspective as a Latina educator and multilingual learner, she is committed to fostering equitable and supportive environments that expand second language learning opportunities for diverse communities. Adriana is always open to collaborating on projects at the intersection of language, technology, and equity.

Dr. Mirtha E. Quintana-Toomey, a member of the organization, is an educator with more than 38 years of experience in Chicago Public Schools (CPS). Born in Cuba and educated in Spain, she holds a bachelor's degree from Northeastern Illinois University, master's degrees from Roosevelt and Loyola universities, and a Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) degree from DePaul University. Throughout her career, she has served as a teacher, assistant principal, principal, and central office administrator. Notably, she founded World Language High School and taught at the university level. Although retired, she actively helps schools establish Transitional Bilingual Education (TBE) programs. She belongs to several honor societies, LULAC, and Multilingual Chicago. Outside of work, she enjoys dancing, watching true crime shows, and spending time with her husband and 23-year-old twins.