Executive Council

Dr. Grace Cho is a Professor in the Department of Secondary Education at California State University, Fullerton. As a former LAUSD teacher, her interest and passion in teaching and research centers on preparing educators to nourish educational equity and academic achievement among culturally and linguistically diverse students. Dr. Cho’s research includes Bilingual Education, Heritage Language Development, and Teacher Education.  She earned her Ph.D. in Education from the University of Southern California, specializing in  Language, Literacy & Learning.  She provided leadership in developing Korean, Mandarin & Vietnamese bilingual authorization programs and a study abroad program for her department. She is also leading a team in developing Korean American Ethnic Studies Curricula. Dr. Cho is trilingual in Korean, Spanish, and English.

L. Erika Saito, Ph.D., is the Director of Strategic Partnerships at University of Massachusetts Global. She served as the Program Director of the Masters in Education and teacher credentialing program & Social and Emotional Learning emphasis at National University and Executive Director of Curriculum & Instruction at Teach Us. Dr. Saito is a California credentialed teacher with over 15 years of experience in K-12 public and private schools in southern California. In 2022, Erika co-authored an online K-12 certificate in Asian American Studies for educators and continues to develop programs and professional development for in-service and practicing teachers in the US and internationally. Dr. Saito serves as a consultant for The Asian American Education Project promoting the need for visibility and inclusion of APIDA History and Ethnic Studies with PreK-12 parents, teachers, districts/county offices, and organizations. She is also an English Language Specialist with the US Department of State and trains teachers in social and emotional learning in English language classrooms.

Her research and publications center on Asian American history, communities, ethnic identity, social and emotional learning, and societal reception. Further, she holds editorial roles for Issues in Teacher Education, and Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in Education.

Pauline Đồng is a Việt American educator from Orange County, California. As a 2nd-generation, American-born Vietnamese, she is honored to serve as a Việt language teacher at Westminster High School. In her journey to become an educator, she attained B.A. degrees in Asian American Studies, History and Education Sciences from UC Irvine. She subsequently acquired her teaching credentials and M.A. in Education with a focus on Dual Language Development from CSU Long Beach in later years to enhance her knowledge of dual language programs, with the intention of being better prepared to support Việt dual language learners in the future. In 2025, she graduated from CSU Long Beach's Educational Leadership Doctoral Program. For her dissertation, she focused on the experiences of K-12 Việt language educators who teach within Vietnamese Dual Language Immersion (VDLI) pathways.

As a first-generation immigrant from the Philippines, Dr. Nirmla Griarte Flores was privileged to serve as a bilingual elementary school teacher for 12 years while performing the duties of a site technology coordinator. Her doctorate degree in Educational Leadership for Social Justice with a certificate in Reading Literacy and a master’s degree in Education with a Multicultural emphasis paved the way to her teaching of various graduate and undergraduate courses such as Foundations in Literacies, Language and Literacy, STEM, and Rhetoric and Writing. As an Assistant Professor for the Education Department at Cal Poly Pomona, she has co-edited and co-authored a book, written book chapter/journal articles, and received internal/ external grants that address the cultural and linguistic needs of K-12 students. She has also taken the lead for an international research project with a team of American and Costa Rican University professors on a comparative analysis of literacy instruction. As a current CAAPAE Board Member, a CABTE Webmaster, and an ELLLI advocate, Nirmla has gained much appreciation for biliteracy/multiculturalism and a relentless desire to bring diverse groups together around a common vision.

Dr. Kimmie Tang is currently a Special Education Faculty at Alder Graduate School of Education, and an Adjunct Professor at University of San Diego (USD). Prior to USD, she served as an Early Childhood and Special Education Associate Professor at Biola University before relocating to another country. Before the relocation, Dr. Tang was a Special Education Assistant Professor at California State University, Dominguez Hills, and an Assistant Professor and Program Director of Special Education at Mount St. Mary’s University, where she coordinated and implemented the Special Education Teaching Credential and Master’s programs. Dr. Tang spent the past 27 years educating, advocating, and researching for an inclusive and equitable education for all students while serving as an educator, administrator, faculty member, program developer, consultant, and researcher. Although diverse, her research primarily focuses on better equipping general and special education teachers and administrators to deal with the current challenges facing marginalized populations. Prior to becoming faculty in higher education, she worked extensively with children with mild, moderate, and severe disabilities across all types of disabilities and grade levels, including at-risk students and English Language Learners. Dr. Tang holds a doctorate degree in educational leadership and a master’s degree in special education. 

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