Roger Garcia was born in Los Angeles and grew up in Columbus, Nebraska. He holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and Latino/Latin American studies, a Master’s in Public Administration, a Master’s in Theological Studies, and is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Ministry. Since moving to Omaha in 2005, he has actively engaged in civic and community activities, such as co-founding the Metro Young Latino Professionals Association (MYLPA) and serving on the boards for the Women's
Center for Advancement and the Immigrant Legal Center. For his overall active community involvement, Roger was named one of the Ten Outstanding Young Omahans in 2016. Professionally, Roger has been working in the nonprofit and public sector for over 15 years, currently serving as the Nebraska State Director for the National Center for Families Learning. He also served in elected office as a member of the Metropolitan Community College Board of Governors where he has served since 2013. |
Jessica Boren was born and raised in the south region of Brazil. In 2008, she moved to Lincoln, NE with no previous knowledge of English. Over the next few years she was able to learn English and Spanish through immersion.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in Global Studies, with focuses on Spanish and Psychology. She is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in International Family Studies. Being an immigrant herself, she decided to work to support the immigrant, refugee, and low-income communities. For many years, Jessica has provided services to these communities in many different ways. In the past, Jessica has been an Assistant Director of a non-profit organization serving the latino community, where she oversaw and managed Adult Education classes, Citizenship classes, and other educational programs. She has also investigated employment discrimination cases across the state of Nebraska, where she fought for equal rights. Finally, she has coached Family Literacy programs in Nebraska, helping schools implement the four-component Family Literacy model to further support families in their educational goals. Currently, Jessica is the Nebraska State Assistant Director for the National Center for Families Learning. |
Hannah Van Horn was born and raised in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She attended Colorado State University where she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science with a concentration in U.S. Government and Policy and a minor in Spanish. During her final semester, she worked at the Colorado State Capitol as an intern in the House of Representatives where she explored education policy and educational inequity issues. Hannah sought out an opportunity to confront systems that lead to educational inequity and joined Teach for America as an elementary teacher. She spent two years teaching in Oklahoma City as an early childhood teacher in a district where she had the opportunity to serve ethnically and socio-economically diverse students and families. During her time in the classroom she focused on investigating culturally-responsive teaching models that encourage diversity and inclusion among students. Hannah currently serves as a Family Learning Specialist for the National Center for Families Learning where she works closely with local school districts across Nebraska to implement family literacy and family engagement programming.
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