Juan Jose Lopez is the Director of the Bureau of Migrant, Refugee, and Labor Services in the Division of Employment and Training of the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development and a leading advocate on Latino/ Hispanic issues in Wisconsin. Originally from San Antonio, Texas, he received a B.A. in Social Work from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He serves on the Latino Chamber of Commerce, the Foundation of the Rotary Club of Madison and the Latino Support Network, which he helped found. He is a former Executive Director for Briarpatch and the Boys and Girls Club of Dane County and served on the Board of Education for the Madison Metropolitan School District for 12 years.

Judy has worked in the long term care industry for the past 19 years. She is a state certified Social Worker and a state licensed Nursing Home Administrator. She lives on Madison’s south side with Gregory, her husband of 19 years, and their two daughters. Their youngest daughter, Ashleigh, will be a fourth grader at Nuestro Mundo Community School in the 2008-09 academic year. Judy has served on the NMI Board as both a parent liaison and as the current Secretary. In her spare time, Judy is active in sports including triathlon, kayaking and soccer, and engages in creative writing.

Amelia Jones Enwemnwa currently serves on the Executive Board as Treasurer for Nuestro Mundo, Inc.. Amelia started her volunteer service with the organization as Co-Chair of the Community Outreach Committee. Her eldest son currently attends Nuestro Mundo Community School. Amelia works in Direct Mail at CUNA Mutual Group and is a lifetime resident of Madison. She holds a BBA in Business Management and Marketing from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Ana began teaching at Nuestro Mundo when the school opened in 2004. She is currently a graduate student at UW Madison and teaches part time. She is involved with NMI because she believes that NMI is doing what is best for all children, especially Latino students. Ana believes that providing a dual language environment for kids is an excellent gift.

A Wisconsin native, Debora has been involved in the Madison educational system, beginning as a student and then as a parent. She has been a teacher in the Madison Metropolitan School District for over 25 years. Raised in a bilingual household, Debora has been involved in the “ins and outs” of language development, its social impact as well as political movements in Madison to meet the needs of bilingual citizens. She is proud of her role as a founding member of Nuestro Mundo Community School. Debora is a former chairperson of Nuestro Mundo, Inc. She is currently teaching Psychology at Memorial High School and is working toward her National Certification and ESL graduate studies. In her spare time she enjoys shoveling snow or gardening.

Bryan Grau has been a teacher in Madison, Racine and Los Angeles for over 25 years. He serves on the Wisconsin Charter School Association and is a member of the Madison Teachers Inc.; WEAC; NEA; and AFT. Bryan has a BS in Education and a Masters degree in Educational Curriculum and Instruction from the UW-Madison. Bryan is a co-founder of Nuestro Mundo Incorporated and of the Nuestro Mundo Community School as well as a former board chair.

Roseanne Drake Schmitz lives on Madison’s east side with her husband Larry and their two daughters. Their youngest daughter, Erin, is a second grader at Nuestro Mundo Community School. Roseanne is the chair of the NMI Middle School Committee, and has been working tirelessly with this group of dedicated parents and others, to advance the possibility of a secondary school charter, so that the dual immersion concept of education can continue for current NMCS students and future enrollees in middle school and possibly high school.

Peter is the married father of two girls, one of whom is a first grader at Nuestro Mundo. He is a founding member of Nuestro Mundo, Inc. He holds a Master’s Degree in Horticulture from the UW Madison. In his professional life, Peter served in the Peace Corps in Guatemala from 1981 — 1984. He started two potato biotech companies between 1988 and 2001 and owned a potato chip company in Kazakhstan from 1998-2001. He currently works as a consultant for US seed potato exports. Peter would like to see his children become fully biligual. He himself started learning Spanish at age 22 and firmly believes that a strong foundation in acquiring other languages is more easily possible when begun at an early age. Peter believes that a dual immersion education is a benefit to both Spanish- and English-dominant cultures.

Ruth Robarts served on the Board of Education for the Madison Metropolitan School District from 1997 to 2007. She has worked as a teacher at Malcolm Shabazz City High School in Madison and was the principal for the school district’s alternative high school programs for five years. She is the Assistant Dean for Student and Academic Affairs at the University of Wisconsin Law School.