The Illinois Resource Center is proud to announce that veteran team member Olivia Mulcahy will be delivering the keynote address at the Translanguaging Classroom Institute hosted by Dual Language education of New Mexico (DLeNM) and co-sponsored by Velazquez Press this summer.
As an Education Specialist at the IRC, Olivia is constantly developing and facilitating professional development focused on cultivating affirming, culturally responsive and evidence-based translanguaging pedagogies, Universal Design for Learning and empowering educators to tap into their own creative writing skills. Prior to joining the IRC team, she led the district Dual Language Education Initiative and oversaw bilingual, ESL, and world language programs at Chicago Public Schools and taught at Telpochcalli Elementary.
“From growing up in a bilingual household to my years as a classroom teacher in a bilingual school to my more than two decades of work with the Illinois Resource Center, my entire life has been informed by the translanguaging corriente,” she says. “To be able to share what I have learned and such a core part of my educational practice with the passionate educators attending DLeNM’s Summer Institute feels incredibly powerful.”
The summer institute, on the theme of “Translanguaging Energies: Juntos, Corriente and Wonder,” takes place June 12th and 13th, 2025 at the Hotel Encanto in Las Cruces, New Mexico. More information about attending can be found here. The institute will focus on “cutting-edge pedagogies that celebrate language diversity while promoting inclusivity, social justice, and equity.”
“While the Illinois Resource Center proudly serves educators and school communities across our home state, it is especially gratifying to see our work make an impact on an even larger scale,” said IRC Director Josie Yanguas. “Olivia’s passion for and commitment to promoting relevant translanguaging practices is evident, and we could not be more excited to see her work elevated on the stage at DLeNM.”
For those who can’t make it to Las Cruces for this dynamic convening of multilingual educators, Olivia also offers workshops and webinars on the translanguaging corriente and related topics all year round through the Illinois Resource Center, and can provide an empowering session to your school community. Learn more about bringing Olivia and the rest of our incredible specialist team to your school here.
