Olivia dedicated herself to teaching English Language Arts on Chicago’s Southside before completing a Fulbright grant in Colombia. The Green Fellowship brought Olivia to Kansas City where she founded the Kauffman School’s AP Literature and Composition course where her students achieved a 78% pass rate on the College Board exam. Olivia then moved to Kansas City Public Schools where she championed the region’s first 7th-12th Dual Language Spanish Immersion Program as Paseo Academy’s Spanish Literacy teacher and advocated for equitable options for the Latine community as a member of the Board of Education’s Hispanic Development Committee.

Today, the program serves over 100 bilingual students, is completing its 4-year dual credit pilot with UMKC, manages a $10,000.00 BeGreat Together grant, and continues to offer bilingual education to students of proud African American, Afro-Latine, Indigenous, Latine, and Caucasian backgrounds.

Eric received both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Hofstra University in New York. In 2008, he was awarded a Fulbright research grant to Hungary, where he studied discrimination against the Roma in public education and drew comparisons to post-Brown v. Board of Education policies in the U.S.

He has worked as a contractor, educator and collaborator in a variety of fields ranging from holistic healthcare, workforce preparation, language learning and cultural exchange. He currently lives in Arizona.

Dr. Gil Garcia has held numerous educational leadership roles, most recently serving as the Director of Academic Effectiveness at St. Augustine College. She is the co-author of a two-time bestseller, “Unstoppable Women” and “The Miracle Woman,” an anthology on her life. She has also been a visiting professor at universities in the United States and seven other countries. With her Doctorate in higher education from Western Michigan University, she is an exceptional academic leader, and her expertise is widely respected.⁠