For many educators and leaders in our SEAL community, their passion for supporting multilingual learners began with their own experiences.

In honor of Women’s History Month, we’re celebrating women with SEAL whose personal connections to bilingualism have shaped their commitment to multilingual education.

These stories come from leaders across SEAL and our board:

• Samantha Martin, SEAL Communications Manager
• Sara Rizik-Baer, SEAL Program Manager
• Karen Ascencio, SEAL Senior Program Manager, Early Learning
• Patty Chavez, SEAL Head of External Relations
• Judith Alcalá, SEAL Associate Director
• Julie Castro Abrams, SEAL Board Member
• Feliza Ortiz-Licon, SEAL Board Member

Explore their reflections below.

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Voices from SEAL Staff

Samantha Martin

Communications Manager, SEAL

Reflecting on how navigating two languages shaped her identity.

Read Samantha’s story: Between Languages: A Personal Bilingual Journey

“This Women’s History Month, I’m reflecting on how language shaped my experience — in ways that were complicated, imperfect, and still unfolding, she said. “Language connects us across generations. Ensuring students’ home languages are cultivated — not silenced — is how we can honor that history.”

Sara Rizik-Baer

Program Manager, SEAL

Reflecting on how navigating two languages shaped her identity.

Read Sara's story: Language as Legacy: Carrying Stories Across Generations

“With one grandmother, language was a barrier that kept us from fully knowing each other,” she said. “With the other, translation became a bridge that allowed our family’s history to live on between us..”

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Karen Ascencio

Senior Program Manager, Early Learning – SEAL

Sharing how honoring identity and language creates belonging.

Read Karen’s story: Embracing Identity

“My memorable experience with SEAL began during my interview, where our organization's deep commitment to honoring every English Learner’s identity and celebrating family, culture, and language shone through,” Karen shared. “I was profoundly moved when a panel member asked how I prefer to pronounce my name. That was a question no one had ever asked before."

Patty Chavez

Head of External Relations, SEAL

Sharing how family, heritage, and language shaped her lifelong connection to bilingualism.

Read Patty’s story: A Personal Journey of Bilingualism

“When I think about my home language, I think about my parents and my Nana — their courage, their sacrifices, and their love for our heritage,” Patty said. “Our home was where Spanish and English danced together every day, and where words carried love, humor, history, and identity.”

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Judith Alcalá

Associate Director, SEAL

Her journey reflects a lifelong commitment to bilingual education and multilingual identity.

Read Judith’s story: Honoring Language and Culture

"Living as a bilingual individual is a key part of who I am as a practitioner”, Judith said. “I think and live in two languages and cultures. Fostering environments both on and off campus where children and adults can embrace their bilingual identity and show up as their true selves has always been important to me."

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Voices from SEAL’s Board

Julie Castro Abrams

CEO, How Women Lead | SEAL Board Member

Read Julie’s Story

Julie has seen firsthand how being bilingual shaped her children’s futures. It has enriched their lives, strengthened their careers, and deepened their connections to diverse communities and cultures. And it’s not just her family — research confirms that multilingualism fosters empathy, cognitive growth, and creativity.

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Feliza Ortiz-Licon

Executive Vice President, The Campaign for College Opportunity | SEAL Board Member

Read Feliza’s Story

Growing up multilingual in West Long Beach in the ’70s and ’80s, Feliza often felt the tension between her rich cultural heritage and societal norms that didn’t always see her bilingualism as a strength.

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