Milagros (Mili) Henríquez-Soto, has been an educator for over 30 years in Puerto Rico and Texas. She believes teacher leadership is a call to be a change-agent by power of influence, and an example of a lifelong learner. Ms. Henríquez received her M.Ed. in Teacher Leadership with Concentration on English as a Second Language from Lamar University in August 2017. As a bilingual teacher in Texas, she fulfilled multiple leadership roles at the campus level, from grade-level chair, to mentoring, and representing her school in various district’s committees. Receiving the Milken Educator Award was a life-changing experience that propelled her to a new leadership role as a Literacy Specialist at the district level. In that role, Ms. Henríquez provided instructional support for bilingual teachers in multiple elementary schools across the district. Following that, her passion for bilingualism and biliteracy qualified her to become part of the leadership team in the Houston ISD Curriculum and Development Office as a Teacher Development Manager and later Director of Dual Language Curriculum and Development. In her time in the Elementary Curriculum and Development Office in Houston ISD, Ms. Henríquez collaborated with Multilingual Programs in the design, development, monitoring, and support of the Dual Language Program. Her team of Teacher Development Specialists provided instructional and coaching support to elementary bilingual, ESL, and dual language teachers across the district. In collaboration with her team, she developed and provided district-wide professional development for dual language teachers and designed the district’s Dual Language Curriculum. Currently, Ms. Henríquez is the Managing Director and Lead Educational Consultant at Accendi Learning and is also part of Dr. Sandra Mercuri Educational Consultants Group. In these roles, she develops customized dual language curriculum documents and professional development for multiple districts across Texas.
Diverse students are an asset to any classroom. Their cultural background and identity has the potential to impact classroom culture by helping build tolerance and acceptance among individuals. In today’s world, we should seek opportunities to help students build healthy relationships with each other focusing on what unites us and not what divide us. This is how we build a better world.
A.A. Elementary Education
B.A. Elementary Education
M.Ed. Teacher Leadership/ English as a Second Language
