Meet the Illinois Resource Center Team
Director and Specialists
Josie became the Illinois Resource Center Director in 2006. She had served in various capacities at the IRC since 1989, including coordinating the annual State Bilingual Conference and various Title III projects. Josie is the chairperson of the Illinois Advisory Council for Bilingual Education as well as an executive board member of the Illinois Early Learning Council. She serves on the executive board of the Illinois Association for Multilingual Multicultural Education. Josie’s areas of interest include policies and programs related to bilingual education, foundations of bilingual education, and dual language programming.
Email: jyanguas@yahoo.com
Email: jyanguas@yahoo.com
Maggie joined the IRC in 2015. Maggie draws upon her background as an EL/bilingual teacher, administrator, and consultant to work with educators that serve ELs to infuse innovation and creativity into curriculum and instruction.
She believes strongly in the power of authentic and meaningful used instructional technology as a catalyst for language development, student engagement, content area achievement, and professional growth.
Vanessa began with the IRC as an independent contractor in 2022 and has recently joined the team as a full time Education Specialist in 2023. In 2000, Vanessa began her teaching career and over the years has served as an instructional coach, assistant principal and bilingual director in the Chicago and suburban area. Vanessa’s experience has been focused on serving multilingual learners at the school and district level. She has a B.A. in Secondary Education in the teaching of Spanish as a World Language from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a M.A. in Educational Leadership & Change Management as well as a M.A. in Dual Language Teacher Leadership from Roosevelt University. Vanessa draws on her experience as a teacher and administrator to deliver high quality professional development that will empower educators to develop equitable educational experiences for culturally and linguistically diverse populations .
Silvia started at the IRC in 2012 as point person for the annual Illinois Latino Legislative Caucus Foundation (ILLCF) Conference. Currently, Silvia works closely with the President to seek and cultivate external relationships with strategic partners. As a member of the senior management team, she participates in strategic planning for all IRC events, manages the Bilingual/ESL graduate course work with National Louis University (NLU) and oversees the administrative support staff. Silvia holds a B.A. and M.S. in Public Service Management from DePaul University.
As a Chicago Public Schools teacher in La Villita and later as a leader in the district, Olivia’s practice was rooted in supporting students’ bilingualism and biliteracy, designing inclusive and culturally-responsive curriculum, and integrating the arts whenever possible. Olivia brought her experience, commitment to equitable education for multilingual communities, and ever-expanding interests to the IRC in 2013.
Rachell joined the IRC in 2018. She has taught in bilingual and dual language programs at the elementary level and was a bilingual program director for the Belvidere School District. Rachell has experience in creating and implementing dual language programs.
Her interests include bilingualism and biliteracy, and equitable access for emergent bilingual students. Rachell holds a B.A in Elementary Education and Spanish and an M.A. in Educational Leadership.
Michele is an accomplished educator with over 15 years of experience in classrooms, bringing content to life through innovative instructional practices. Her background also includes teaching graduate courses for EL Methodology, leadership experience in Sheltered Instruction Program implementation and design, and coaching work with teams of educators PreK-12. She provides professional development in academic language support and differentiation (math, literacy, writing), technology integration, co-teaching models, formative assessment, and material/curriculum adaptation for culturally and linguistically diverse schools. Click here to visit Michele’s blog.
Adelicia Brienzo is one of the Illinois Resource Center’s newest Education Specialists! With over fifteen years in the field of education, Adelicia is a passionate advocate for multilingual learners and their families. Raised in a Latinx community by an immigrant parent, Adelicia was inspired early in her life to become involved in promoting equity in systemically disadvantaged populations.
Adelicia has earned Masters’ degrees in Curriculum and Instruction and Educational Leadership and holds endorsements in English as a Second Language and Special Education. She has served as a home visitor, DEI facilitator, program supervisor/administrator, and taught in PreK, primary, dual language, and special education classrooms. Her strong background in Early Childhood gives her an informed perspective on meeting the needs of our youngest English Learners.
Carly Spina joined the IRC in August of 2021. She has 15 years of experience in Multilingual Education, including her service as an EL teacher, a 3rd grade bilingual classroom teacher, and a district-wide Multilingual Instructional Coach. She is deeply passionate about equity and advocacy for multilingual learners and fights for access and inclusive opportunities for kids and families. Her professional passions include community connections and partnerships, educator empowerment, differentiated support for multilingual learners, schoolwide structures for co-teaching support and implementation, LTEL support, and multilingual student engagement. Spina is an active member of the EL/Bilingual community on social media and enjoys networking and growing with teachers and leaders across the country. Her first book, Moving Beyond for Multilingual Learners, is available through EduMatch Publishing (2021).
Administrative Team
Since 1992, Nina Baginski has served at the IRC where she is the project coordinator for the free ISBE-sponsored workshops. Nina also administratively supports endorsement courses and other IRC events including the State Bilingual Directors’ meeting, the Multilingual Conference, the ESSA Conference, and the Bilingual Parents Summit. Her skills in the Polish language and culture are invaluable.
Barbara joined the IRC family in 2022. She has over 20 years of experience in the administrative field. Her primary role is to assist with graduate-level ESL/Bilingual endorsement courses.
Rosie joined the IRC family in 2018. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Argosy University. She has over 15 years of experience in the administrative field. Her primary role is to assist with graduate-level ESL/Bilingual endorsement courses. In addition, Rosario provides assistance for various IRC events and workshops including the State Bilingual Directors’ meeting, the Illinois Bilingual Conference, the ESSA Conference, and the Bilingual Parents Summit.
Lynn Osheff became project manager of the Illinois Resource Center in 2017 after working on various projects at The Center for 15 years. Previously, she taught ESL at community colleges, coordinated faculty governance at Northeastern Illinois University, and worked in the business world. Lynn holds an M. A. in Linguistics and B. A. in Foreign Language from Northeastern Illinois University.
Louisa (a.k.a. Luigi) Finnberg has been at the IRC since 1978 and is responsible for production and editing of brochures and programs for various IRC services, courses, and events.
In particular, Louisa is a key contact person for the different conferences organized by the IRC including the State Multilingual Conference, the ESSA Conference, and the Bilingual Parent Summit.
Lindsay Eanet has been managing the IRC’s marketing and communications since 2021. Prior to joining the IRC family, she served as Executive Director at the Northcenter Chamber of Commerce, one of the largest small business organizations in Chicago.
In addition to her work at the IRC, she is a freelance writer & reporter whose work has appeared in Block Club Chicago, Time Out Chicago, the Washington Post and other publications.
Belinda is the newest addition as the administrative assistant at The Illinois Resource Center, she will be assisting staff members with conferences and utilizing her bilingual skills to help out in the field. She is a recent graduate of National Louis University specializing in Behavioral Science.
She has over ten years experience as an administrative assistant. She enjoys assisting others, problem solving and working as a team. She is a proud Alum of the Americorps City Year New Hampshire Chapter. She enjoys volunteering at different events every few years. She is eager to learn more about bilingual and multilingual aspects The Illinois Resource Center has to offer.
