Favorite Quote:    “We can disagree and still love each other unless your disagreement is rooted in my oppression and denial of my humanity and right to exist.”    
- James Baldwin

Brief bio:    Dr. Nicole Sager loves languages and is endlessly curious about culture. Spending early childhood years living in Peru and Mexico enabled her to experience childhood bilingualism and other ways of being. Nicole has been in the field of Education for nearly 30 years and has taught all ages from Preschool to University students in the U.S., Brazil, and Japan. She holds an MA in teaching ESL and Spanish and a PhD in Educational Equity and Cultural Diversity. She has extensive experience instructing future teachers in Culturally Linguistically Diverse Education with a very intentional focus on helping educators grow as leaders in equity and culturally sustaining practices in schools. She has had the honor of working with Latinx communities in the Denver metro area in areas of early childhood and school leadership for the past 15 years.     

Why CIRCLE?:    To me, CIRCLE embodies my values - and not just what I believe in, but also how I wish to enact my beliefs. Everything that CIRCLE has to offer (STAMP, CIRCLE conference, professional development, Equity consultation and more) is designed with the goal of creating a kinder, more just society and promoting human connection and growth. It is an honor to serve on the board and get to work with such amazing people.     

Favorite Books related to inclusiveness, diversity and/or equity:     Culturally Responsive Teaching: Theory, Research, and Practice (2010) by Geneva Gay, Handbook of Critical Race Theory in Education(2013) Edited by Marvin Lynn and Adrienne D. Dixon, and Yes is Better than No (1990), by Byrd Baylor    

Walk up song and why:    My walk up song is Samba da Utopia by Jonathan Silva because it expresses sweetness, sadness, joy, hope, and a call to action.