Massiel Zaragoza is a doctoral candidate at UIC. Her research interests relate to bilingual teacher preparation, secondary biliteracy instruction and critical language pedagogies in secondary dual language programs. She holds a BA in the Teaching of Spanish and an MEd in Instructional Leadership from UIC. Massiel has nearly twenty years of teaching and instructional leadership experience in K-12 schools.She currently works as a district level Dual Language Program Specialist for Chicago Public Schools. She self- published her first two bilingual children 's books titled Mi prima isleña y yo and Somos gemelas pero no somos idénticas in July 2021. She co-authored a bilingual teacher’s guide with fellow bilingual children’s author Naibe Reynoso in May 2022. She has also published book reviews in scholarly journals such as the Bilingual Research Journal, the International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism and the Teachers College Record

Nidia’s roots trace back to an indigenous town in Puebla, Mexico named La Huerta. Her parents instilled resilience and a love for education when they migrated to Chicago. Nidia's first language is Spanish and she received Speech services in English as a toddler due to a speech delay. When she started Kindergarten she was placed in an all-English classroom and she slowly started to lose her first-language. Nidia recognized this loss and began her commitment to bridging cultural gaps and fostering inclusivity in her 8+ years of teaching Bilingual-Spanish PreK with a emphasizes in family engagement/involvement.

Nidia now serves families in the city of Chicago as the Family Engagement Team Lead for the Office of Early Childhood and is an Adjunct Professor of Child Development courses at the City Colleges of Chicago. Through her leadership and strategic implementation of action steps the Chicago Public School district has seen an improvement in Preschool's average daily attendance and an increased in enrollment in Preschool despite the district's decreasing enrollment in grades K-12. Nidia has been a community organizer since age 11, advocating for positive change in Chicago from immigrant rights to raising voter turn-out and electing local representatives that voice the needs of the entire community. She is always proud to be a voice for her community and speak on the importance of Early Childhood Education and Early Intervention services.