About Esmeralda Mora

 Esmeralda Mora is a Mexican-American international bestselling author featured in the Entre Culturas 2023 textbook and the 2024 Illinois Teacher of the Year. As a leading advocate for language learning, she is passionate about making language learning accessible and engaging. Her active leadership roles and volunteer work demonstrate her dedication to education and community involvement. Esmeralda is the Founding Director of the Language Learner Literature Advisory Board, a community of scholars auditing language learning literature through a lens of inclusive excellence, and has been tapped by the state of Illinois to serve as a judge for the Distinguished Service Award from the Illinois Council of the Teaching of Foreign Languages. She has been an invited speaker to international audiences, presenting at conferences such as ACTFL and Harvard Latinas, and has been featured on PBS.  Esmeralda holds a B.A. in International Studies from Kenyon College, an M.A. in Latin American Literature from Northeastern Illinois University, and a Doctorate in Education from National Louis University in Chicago. She is currently working on her next young adult novel, which will be written in Spanish for language classes and will feature her hometown of Apetlanca, Guerrero, Mexico.

Esmeralda Mora's teaching, particularly in her upper-level and specialized courses, provides students with opportunities to earn significant and formally recognized qualifications. These qualifications serve as measurable evidence of their high proficiency and preparedness for post-secondary education and professional life. The three main formal qualifications students are able to earn from her teaching are: the Illinois Seal of Biliteracy, College of Lake County (CLC) Dual Credit, and Advanced Placement (AP) Credit by the College Board. The Illinois Seal of Biliteracy is a prestigious designation granted by the state that certifies a student has attained a high level of proficiency in English and at least one other language. Students earning CLC Dual Credit, through her role as a Dual Credit professor, receive transferable college credit for her high school Spanish 203 and 204 courses, providing them with a head start on their university coursework. Finally, she instructs the AP Spanish Language and Culture course, enabling students to take the official AP exam for the possibility of earning college credit or advanced standing upon matriculation to a university.