Alexandra is the Assistant Academic Director and an IEP/ESP Instructor at the Michigan Language Center (MLC) in Ann Arbor. She earned her MA in TESOL from Eastern Michigan University in 2018 and has devoted over 15 years to working with international students, professionals, and newcomers to achieve academic, professional, and personal goals. At MLC, she collaborates with the Academic Director, overseeing curriculum records, reviewing instructional materials, and supporting teachers on a daily basis. Additionally, she spearheads MLC's faculty professional development initiatives for lifelong learning, and ensures that MLC remains committed to excellence through strategic academic planning. Alexandra has extensive teaching experience with university students, international professionals, and community members both in the U.S. and abroad. Her special interests include culturally responsive curricula, cross-cultural communication, multimodal instruction, pragmatics, and second language writing. Since her graduate school days, she has actively participated in MITESOL and TESOL International Conferences, presenting on various ELT topics and fostering connections with educators all over the world. In her spare time, Alexandra enjoys spending time with her two fur babies - Mocha and Mochi. 

Frances LaMielle

Frances LaMielle has been serving Multilingual Learners for nearly 15 years. With substantial experience including community college, university, and adult community education settings, the majority of her career has focused on serving MLs in low incidence K12 school districts. Currently Fran is the Multilingual Learner Teacher Consultant at DeWitt Public Schools where she has created a district wide program enabling students to thrive linguistically and academically.  A member of MITESOL for over 4 years, she completed undergraduate degrees at Hope College and the University of Michigan-Flint, in addition to earning her MA TESOL from Michigan State University in 2013.  She is insatiably curious, especially about people and their cultures.  Her many interests include reading, biking, pickleball, painting, and cooking, but she especially loves snowboarding and daydreaming about her next trip abroad.  

Meredith Bricker

Meredith is a Lecturer in the English Language Institute at the University of Michigan. She received her M.A. in Applied Linguistics in 2005 from Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia and since then has taught as an EAP instructor and EFL teacher trainer in a variety of in-person and online settings. She has been an active member of TESOL since 2006 and currently also serves as a volunteer peer reviewer for the Commission on English Language Accreditation. In her free time, Meredith loves to travel, especially while embarrassing her family by collecting as many stamps as possible in her National Park Passport book.

Austyn Sabin

Austyn is an ESL teacher in the K-3 sheltered Newcomer classroom in the Kalamazoo Public School district. She has a B.S. in aviation flight science and Spanish, and accounting experience in the public and private sectors. Her interests include finding innovative channels for family advocacy, running, and learning about the world around her.

Jennifer Bashara

Jennifer is an English Learner (EL) Teacher for Ypsilanti Community Schools, currently serving students at Ford, ELC and Ypsilanti International Elementary School (YIES). She graduated from Eastern Michigan University with a BA in Elementary and endorsements in Integrated Science (K-8) and Teaching English as a Second Language (K-12). Jennifer loves working closely with her students, their families and their teachers to support their learning. She also loves that she is able to learn so much about her students as well as be active in her school community. Jennifer is a lifelong resident of Michigan. When she is not teaching, she loves to spend time at home with her family, working outside in her vegetable garden and having fun!

Sharon Umlor 

Sharon has taught adult English language learners in Grand Rapids Community College's Adult Education Program since 2012. She has an M.Ed. in TESOL from Grand Valley State University and extensive experience teaching English at the secondary level to a diverse group of learners in the West Michigan area. Issues of special interest to her include academic writing fluency, curriculum design, and ease of access to community information and services for all English language learners.

Helena Kore

Helena is an online English language teacher creating educational content that is shared on social media. She earned her M.A. in Applied Linguistics from Grand Valley State University in 2021. She has spent time researching the Latvian-American heritage language community as well as teaching practices in second language classrooms. Additionally, she enjoys developing and teaching curriculum that incorporates content-based and task-based methodologies. Her Master's capstone was a curriculum called "Teaching English with a Garden." When she isn't working on something teaching related, she enjoys spending time on the trails or at the beach close to her home in Whitehall, MI

My name is Carrie Machkouri, and I am the Integrated Education and Training (IET) Coordinator and an English instructor with the Customized Workplace English program at the Literacy Center of West Michigan. The Literacy Center of West Michigan serves ESL and ABE adults in the community through community group classes, one-on-one tutoring, and customized ESL supported trainings. I first came to the Literacy Center in 2015 as an AmeriCorps member for the Family Literacy Program.  I spent 2 and a half years teaching ESL adults in that role before becoming a part-time and then full-time member of the staff.  I have worked for all three of our direct service programs, connecting learners from numerous walks of life to the tutoring and classes that best fit their learning and career goals. I have taught classes at the Literacy Center since 2015 and have grown so much both professionally and personally.  I was encouraged by my fellow staff members to get my Master’s in TESOL, which I received from Cornerstone University in 2018, and I also have a Bachelor’s in Social Work from Grand Valley State University.  I wear many hats in my role, but my favorite is teaching our diverse group of learners and writing curriculum for unique pilot classes. Outside of work, I enjoy gardening, reading and writing - I am working on my debut fantasy novel right now. My husband is from Morocco, so we enjoy traveling with the goal to visit all 50 states!

Amira is a Ph.D. candidate at WMU. Originally from Alexandria, Egypt, Amira came to Michigan in 2017 to teach her first language, Arabic, at the World Languages department at WMU as a Fulbright scholar. Currently, she works as a research and teaching assistant at the Literacy Studies & Special Education unit. Her research interests include teaching English to refugees and immigrants, culturally responsive teaching and learner identity.

Kristin Homuth is the Graduate Studies Language and Learning Support Specialist at the College for Creative Studies (CCS), an art and design college in Detroit. At CCS, she provides support to both domestic and international graduate students, with a particular focus on assisting them with their thesis writing. Kristin also teaches a graduate-level communication course and an undergraduate writing course for multilingual students. Prior to joining CCS, Kristin worked as an instructor and curriculum administrator at Language Center International in Southfield and instructor at the Michigan Language Center in Ann Arbor. She also currently serves as an intermittent essay rater for Michigan State University and has served as an IELTS examiner. She holds an MA TESOL degree from Eastern Michigan University (2013). Her journey with multilingual learners began early in her career as a 6th-grade teacher at an international school in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. When not teaching, Kristin enjoys the creative pursuits of cooking and baking, the imaginative play of LEGO building, and spending time with her husband, two children, and three feline companions.

Pamela Bogart

Pamela first joined MITESOL in the early nineties, and found the organization to be a professional development lifeline as she was transitioning from foreign language teaching to ESL teaching. After working with an adult literacy and ESL organization for a decade, she completed a Masters in TESOL at EMU, and began teaching English for Academic and Specific Purposes at the University of Michigan ELI, where she continues to teach and learn today. Her current interests include technology-enhanced learning, individualizing language learning, the common ground between English for Academic purposes and English for Specific purposes, teacher education, and community engagement.Pamela served as MITESOL's ESP SIG leader for a short stint, then became the organization's listserv manager until 2018 when she joined the MITESOL Journal editorial team.

Dan Brown

Dan is an Assistant Professor of English at Grand Valley State University where he teaches courses in applied linguistics. He has taught ESL/EFL and trained English teachers in Arizona, Hawaii, Thailand, Japan, and Chile. His research interests include second language acquisition, second language writing for academic purposes, meta-analysis and research synthesis, and second language teaching methodology. He has published his research in TESOL Quarterly, the Journal of Second Language Writing, Second Language Research, and Language Teaching Research. He has also served as a reviewer for Language Learning, TESOL Quarterly, the Modern Language Journal, Language Teaching Research, and System, and he is excited to join as as a coeditor for the new MITESOL Journal.

Eliona Balilaj serves as a dedicated Multilingual Learners (MLL) Teacher with Global Educational Excellence. With over 12 years of experience teaching English as a Foreign and Second Language, Eliona brings expertise in curriculum design, assessment strategies, writing instruction, and project coordination. Eliona’s career spans both K-12 and higher education in the United States and Europe, where she has taught ESL, EFL, and Composition. Before transitioning into education, she gained valuable experience in project management and as a translator and conference interpreter. Her work includes translating 14 books, reflecting her deep appreciation for communication, human rights, and literature. Outside of her professional commitments, Eliona enjoys traveling to sunny destinations and exploring diverse cultures.

Karyn Goven is the Senior Director of Workforce Development at MiSide, located in Detroit.She oversees multiple programs that include Earn and Learn- job training, apprenticeship, WIOA Title II Learning Lab, Youth training programs including Youthbuild, and DOL Young Adult Reentry Bridge to Career Opportunities, and an American Job Center, Detroit at Work Career Center. She is active in many state and national organizations supporting adult education and workforce education.

Virginia David

Virginia is originally from Brazil and moved to the United States in 2008 to pursue a master's in TESOL at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. After that, she did my PhD in Second Language Studies at Michigan State University. She has taught English as a foreign or second language for different ages and proficiency levels for almost 15 years. Currently, she is a faculty specialist and coordinator of the TESOL programs at Western Michigan University. In 2017, she and her colleagues were awarded a National Professional Development grant by the U.S. Department of Education, so the majority of their students are in-service teachers seeking their ESL endorsement. Virginia also volunteer teaches ESL at the ESL of Southwest Michigan program, which is run by the Kalamazoo Literacy Council. She would love to become part of the MITESOL organization because this will be a wonderful opportunity to meet more people in our field in the state of Michigan and become more involved with ESL teaching statewide. She has always attended and presented at MITESOL and she admires the hard work the MITESOL board puts into the conferences and organization.

Maria Lograsso is an experienced educator and instructional specialist with a strong background in English Learner program coordination, professional development, and instructional coaching. As the Troy School District's English Language Development Curriculum and Instruction Specialist, she has led initiatives in Universal Design for Learning (UDL), Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS), and Professional Learning Communities (PLC) - centering the English Learner in each. Maria has also played a key role in curriculum adoption, program reviews, and supporting multilingual education. Additionally, she contributed to international education by developing instructional materials for Colombian educators during a Fulbright International Field Experience and for American educators wanting a focus on South Asian topics such as the University of Michigan K-12 Teacher Fellow.

Colleen Brice

Colleen Brice is associate professor in the Department of English at Grand Valley State University, where she teaches courses in Applied Linguistics, TESOL, and ESL writing for undergraduate and graduate students. Her research interests include issues in second language writing, teacher education, and LESLLA (low-educated second language and literacy acquisition). Her work has appeared in the Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, International Journal of English Studies, TESOL Journal, and Language.