• IDRA Newsletter • September 2020 •

Meet Irene Gómez: IDRA’s New Ethnic Studies and English Learner Research Fellow

Irene Gómez has joined the IDRA team as our newest Research Fellow. A daughter of Venezuelan immigrants, Irene has called Texas home for 14 years. As an undergraduate at the University of Texas, Irene led volunteers of a refugee coalition, coached Title I and first-generation students in writing and conducting research for equitable education policies. Post-graduation, Irene’s time as a congressional fellow in Washington, D.C., youth civic engagement intern, and curriculum developer deepened her commitment to culturally sustaining content for students. Now a master’s student at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Irene will support IDRA in researching policies for high-quality ethnic studies classes and English learner education.


Meet Araceli García: IDRA’s First Education Policy Fellow

IDRA’s new Education Policy Fellows program kicks off with the naming of its first fellow, Araceli García. Araceli grew up on the South Side of San Antonio and is the daughter of Mexican immigrants. She is the first person in her family to attend college, and her passion for immigrants’ rights stems from seeing her family and community insist on dignity while struggling to navigate their immigration and socioeconomic status. A graduate of Stanford University, Araceli has received several awards for her academic excellence and community service including the Newman Civic Fellow Award, Porras Award for Visionary Leadership, Chappell-Lougee Undergraduate Research Grant, and the Stanford Chicanx/Latinx Emerging Leader Award. Araceli graduated from Stanford with a bachelor’s degree in Chicanx/Latinx Studies and a minor in education and credits her family’s sacrifices for her success. In her fellowship with IDRA, she will focus on rights of English learner and immigrant students.


[©2020, IDRA. This article originally appeared in the September 2020 IDRA Newsletter by the Intercultural Development Research Association. Permission to reproduce this article is granted provided the article is reprinted in its entirety and proper credit is given to IDRA and the author.]

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