Stela Radovanovic

Co-founder, Executive Director

Stela Radovanovic is a highly accomplished professional in the field of education, with a focus on serving multilingual learners. Her most recent role was as the Executive Director for Research, Instruction, and Professional Learning in the NYC Department of Education’s Division of Multilingual Learners (DML). Throughout her career, Stela has dedicated herself to supporting teachers and administrators in their professional development, as well as developing instructional resources specifically tailored for multilingual learners.

With a strong belief in the importance of research, Stela continually stays updated on the latest advancements in language and content learning. She is committed to translating this research into practical teaching practices. During her career, Stela has worked with MLs in a variety of settings, including large bilingual programs in Spanish and Vietnamese, as well as English as a New Language (ENL) programs.

Through her diverse experiences, Stela has gained a deep understanding of the ever-growing demands of the global economy and its impact on teaching and learning. She firmly believes that all multilingual learners, regardless of their language proficiency, have the potential to engage with grade-level knowledge. This belief has shaped her work as a teacher and administrator and continues to drive her passion for supporting educators of multilingual learners in NYC and beyond.

Outside of her professional life, Stela enjoys long walks, reading, and practicing Pilates.

Rachel Hoff

Chief Learning Officer

Rachel brings an impressive 28 years of transformative experience within the NYC Public Schools system, where she has dedicated her career to enhancing academic opportunities for multilingual learners. Her journey began as a founding teacher at a high school tailored for newly arrived students, where she first grasped the intricate needs of adolescent multilingual learners.

At both district and central levels, Rachel spearheaded initiatives aimed at supporting Students with Interrupted Education (SIFE), including the management of an annual $3.1 million grant distributed to schools across New York City. This initiative harnessed the collective expertise of educators, creating robust academic and social-emotional supports crucial for student success.

Rachel supported collaborations with local and national experts to create the first national SIFE screener and accompanying curriculum resources. These tools are designed to recognize and build on the unique strengths and assets SIFE students bring to the classroom, all while accelerating their language and content development.

Her problem-solving approach is particularly unique, as she skillfully identifies opportunities for increasing internal capacity within school communities, empowering leaders and teachers to play their vital roles in advancing multilingual learners’ achievements. Rachel’s leadership within the K-12 literacy team of the Division of Multilingual Learners has been pivotal, fostering professional development and resource creation for English as a New Language (ENL) and bilingual programs.

Believing in the power of collaboration, Rachel actively engages with researchers, community organizations, and expert partners to achieve common goals. Her recent advocacy for multilingual learners within NYC Reads, one of the city’s largest educational initiatives, best reflects her commitment to ensuring that every student has the opportunity to thrive in a supportive and enriching environment.

Daicy Diaz-Granados

Bilingual Education Expert Advisor

Daicy Diaz-Granados holds a Ph.D. in Urban Education from the CUNY Graduate Center and a Master’s Degree in Bilingual Education from The City College of New York. Her award-winning dissertation is based on oral histories and life stories which were analyzed to identify the components of agentic and empowering educational experiences of traditionally marginalized students.

A lifelong educator, Daicy began her teaching career at the Dual Language Middle School in New York City where she helped develop and implement a dual language curriculum in social studies, literature, writing and geography in both English and Spanish that was rigorous, culturally sustaining and through which students saw their lives, histories and culture reflected. Early on in her teaching career, Daicy witnessed the agentic power of an educational model in which a student’s linguistic repertoires, strengths, culture, family, community and identity were celebrated and centered in the curriculum and pedagogy, and the importance of research-based educational inquiry.

With over 25 years experience in education, she draws from her expertise as a teacher, administrator, professional development content creator/facilitator, curriculum writer, researcher, and scholar to provide resources and support to educators, administrators, multilingual learners, and immigrant-origin families.