Dr. Andrea Somoza-Norton
program co-coordinator, Associate professor
Andrea Somoza-Norton is a dynamic educator and researcher passionate about shaping a sustainable future through education. As an Associate Professor at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, she inspires students to become leaders in eco-justice and educational sustainability. With a strong foundation in education, leadership, and research, Dr. Somoza-Norton's expertise spans K-12 schools and higher education. Her innovative work on eco-literacy practices and biomimetic leadership is at the forefront of addressing climate change's impact on education. Join ELAP and become part of a community dedicated to creating a more sustainable and equitable world.
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Dr. Natasha Neumann
Program co-coordinator, assistant professor
Dr. Natasha Neumann is an experienced K-16 educational leader with a demonstrated history of serving and advocating for all students while also building capacity for staff and community members. She is bilingual and has expertise in multilingual education, dual language immersion programs, secondary education, teaching in higher education, facilitating workshops, training, and educational technology. Dr. Neumann is currently researching and writing about multilingual education, recruitment and retention of BIPOC teacher candidates, and educational climate change leadership. She is a passionate educational leader with a Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) focused in K-12 Leadership from University of Southern California.
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Recruitment and Retention of Latinx Teachers Is Top Priority: So Why Are New Teachers Saying ¡Adiós!?
Natasha Neumann, Andrea Somoza-Norton, & Lorraine Lopez
october 2024
"Coupled with the changing student demographic and linguistic landscape across many school districts, there is a need to mirror the demographic and linguistic teaching and leadership teams. The importance of students seeing themselves in their teachers and administrators impacts their educational success (Carver-Thomas, 2017). Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) make up 50% of children from birth to age 18 in the United States and approximately 37% of the adult population. In contrast, public school BIPOC teachers comprise just 19% of our teaching force (National Center for Education Statistics, 2019; U.S. Census Bureau, 2020). The literature describes the significance of student achievement by having teachers of color in front of students of color."
Read the article here ›
