KEYNOTE SPEAKER: LINDA EGNATZ

2024 draft conference Schedule

Linda Egnatz is the Executive Director of the Global Seal of Biliteracy, a free international language certification program that serves to recognize and document bilingual skills in over 50 countries. Egnatz also serves as the 2023-24 President of the Joint National Committee for Languages (JNCL-NCLIS), and is a Bilingualism Matters Advisory Board Member, a Heritage Language Global Think Tank Member, and Past President of the Illinois Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. 

Egnatz has taught Spanish at the secondary and university levels, and in 2013, received the Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching. In 2014, she was named the ACTFL National
Language Teacher of the Year. 

Egnatz has become known internationally as an advocate for multilingual learners especially as it relates to the Seal of Biliteracy. As ICTFL President, Egnatz testified before the Illinois legislature on behalf of Seal of Biliteracy adoption to recognize high school seniors who are biliterate in both English and a second language at graduation. In 2013, Illinois adopted the program, and to lead by example, her school district, Lincoln-Way Community District #210, became the pilot school the year prior to state-wide adoption and her students the first to receive the Illinois State Seal of Biliteracy. Nationally, her work on the Seal of Biliteracy has been featured in interviews with Univision and the Chicago Tribune and her articles have
appeared in the Foreign Language Annals, Hispania, The Language Educator, Language Magazine and Education Weekly. Egnatz served on the 2015 joint task force to establish the first National Guidelines for the Seal and her support of the Seal of Biliteracy is now international in scope, collaborating with a variety of educational partners to recognize and celebrate language learners.

Her mission is to provide bilinguals around the world with resources to level-up and leverage their bilingualism and link to future opportunities to use and grow their skills through language certification.

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