Plenary Panels

Dr. Margarita Machado-Casas is a nationally and internationally recognized scholar in bilingual, multicultural, and transnational education. She is a Full Professor at San Diego State University and currently serves as President of the National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE). Her interdisciplinary research focuses on immigrant, Indigenous, Afro-descendant, and multilingual communities, exploring identity, agency, literacy, family engagement, and equitable assessment.

Dr. Machado-Casas holds a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she earned the prestigious IMPACT Award. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Frank Porter Graham Institute in collaboration with Duke University. With over 80 publications—including the award-winning Handbook of Latinos in Education—she is also co-editor of widely adopted texts on bilingual education.

A community-engaged scholar and policy leader, she has advised ministries of education across Latin America and co-developed the first multilingual master’s program for Afro-Indigenous communities in Nicaragua. In the U.S., she co-founded CUPE and BESO, the country’s largest bilingual student organization, and served on the Biden-Harris National Education Policy Committee, helping shape policies on educator diversity.

She is Founder and CEO of ISET Pathway and President of Global Supply Exchange, both focused on advancing educational access and equity. A proud Afro-Indigenous migrant and mother of three, Dr. Machado-Casas is committed to uplifting marginalized voices in education through real-world advocacy, research, and leadership.