EDGAR SERRANO – President
Edgar Serrano, originally from Mexico City, Mexico, has lived in the United States for over 30 years. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration with a minor in International Marketing and a Master of Arts in Modern Languages from The University of Mississippi. Currently, Edgar teaches Spanish full-time at The University of Mississippi and has previously taught Spanish to more than 6,000 students, ranging from Pre-K to 8th grade. His experience working with young learners transformed his teaching philosophy and deepened his passion for advocating early language learning.
Read Edgar’s full bio here.
DANYELLE QUINCY DAVIS, EdS – President Elect
Danyelle Quincy Davis holds a BA in French and German from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln, an MAEd from the University of Nebraska – Kearney and an EdS from Boise State University. She has been a French teacher at Sage International School of Boise since it opened in 2010 and she also serves as Seal of Biliteracy Coordinator for the Sage Network.
Danyelle has served in various roles for her own state organization, IATLC (Idaho Association of Teachers of Language and Culture) – French section leader, president, conference chair and PNCFL Rep. She is also a LILL Cohort 4 graduate, a NADSFL member, and represents Idaho as an associate member to NCSSFL.
Read Danyelle’s full bio here.
ANDREA BOYD – Past President
Andrea Boyd is honored to be the Past President of NNELL. She was born and raised in Uruguay, South America and graduated from Universidad de la República in Montevideo with a degree in International Relations. Andrea holds a M.A. in Education from Northern Kentucky University, and is currently working on a graduate degree in educational leadership at the University of Northern Colorado. She taught English as a foreign language for almost ten years in Uruguay before coming to the United States to teach Spanish in 2004. She has taught Spanish K-12 in private and public schools since then and also worked for two years as a curriculum writer designing English as a Second Language and Spanish curriculum and content.
Read Andrea’s full bio here.
BÁRBARA BARNETT – Treasurer
A native of Puerto Rico, with Cuban roots, Bárbara Barnett has been living in MA for many years. She earned a Bachelor of Arts with Majors in Spanish and Political Science from University of North Florida and a master’s degree in Spanish Language and Culture from the Universidad de Salamanca, España.
Bárbara has taught Spanish at all levels, and in various program models including immersion. She has supervised K-12 programming including immersion and WL for elementary schools. Now two decades into her career, Bárbara is the K-5 Department Head for World Languages at Wellesley Public Schools, where she leads the development of a thematic curriculum anchored in proficiency. She enjoys providing professional development to fellow educators on various topics including elementary programming and practices, social justice, student engagement, and proficiency-based instruction.
Read Bárbara’s full bio here.
JOSH LEGREVE – Executive Secretary
Josh LeGreve (he/him/él) is a 2nd through 12th grade Spanish teacher and IB Diploma Program Coordinator at Green Lake School District, a small, public International Baccalaureate World School. He additionally serves the district as the MYP Community Project co-coordinator. He holds a BA in Spanish and physics with a minor in secondary education from Ripon College. Josh has served the Wisconsin Association for Language Teachers (WAFLT) as advertising manager for the last 10 years, as WAFLT president for 2015-2016, as WAFLT Fall Conference Co-Chair from 2019-2020, and as WAFLT Secretary from 2024-2025. Josh is also a member of the Wisconsin FLESFEST planning committee and was a writing team member for the recently revised Wisconsin State Standards for World Languages.
Read Josh’s full bio here.
MANDI DAVIS – Membership Secretary
Mandi Davis teaches Spanish at Open Window School, an independent K-8 school for gifted education in Bellevue, WA. She has a B.S. in Spanish and Education from Marquette University and a M.Ed. in Learning and Technology from WGU. Mandi has been teaching Spanish for 14 years, primarily in grades K-4. She is passionate about creating joyful learning experiences for her students and helping her community understand the value of language-learning. As the previous Spanish Department Coordinator, Mandi helped implement proficiency testing and aided in awarding the school’s first Global Seal of Biliteracy Functional Fluency awards to 8th grade students. The number of recipients has been growing each year since!
Read Mandi’s full bio here.
KATHY OLSON-STUDLER – National Networking Co-Coordinator
Kathy Olson-Studler, B.S., Spanish/French, and M.A., Spanish, Anthropology and Education, is a retired Spanish teacher, grades 3-5, at St. Paul Academy and Summit School (SPA) in Minnesota. Kathy has been involved in NNELL since 1987 when the organization was first founded and has served in various positions including Minnesota State Rep. (1987-2018); Central States Regional Rep. (2012-present); as a member of NNELL’s Communications and Networking Committees and as the co-editor of the monthly NNELL E-Newsletter (2020-present); and National Networking Co-Coordinator (2022-present). She taught Spanish and French for 10 years at Plymouth Middle School, and later taught Spanish for 38 years at SPA. Kathy also taught early language methodology at the University of St. Thomas and the University of Minnesota.
Read Kathy’s full bio here.
MARY THROND – Advocacy Chair
Mary Thrond‘s career in international education at home and abroad spans over four decades and four continents, having lived in Spain and consulted in Argentina, Brazil and China. She currently teaches Spanish at North Dakota State University. She holds a B.A. from UW Madison in Anthropology /Linguistics, a MEd from NDSU and a Master’s in Spanish Language and Culture from the University of Salamanca. She was instrumental in establishing the Seal of Biliteracy in North Dakota. She serves on the ACTFL Committee for Advocacy and Outreach and serves as the NNELL Advocacy Committee chair and the NNELL representative of North Dakota. She has been advocating for languages with members of Congress with the Joint National Committee for Languages-National Council on Language and International Studies (JNCL-NCLIS) since 2012. She currently teaches Spanish at North Dakota State University.
Read Mary’s full bio here.
KELLY FRANCES DAVIDSON, PhD – NNELL Journal Editor
Kelly F. Davidson, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of French and Foreign Language Education and the Assistant Coordinator of Foreign Language Education at Valdosta State University in Valdosta, Georgia. She is currently serving as the Journal Editor for Learning Languages and is the Past Chair for the ACTFL Language Learning for Children Special Interest Group. She holds a B.A. in French from Furman University, an M.A. in French Literature from Vanderbilt University, and a dual Ph.D. in French and Educational Studies with a concentration in Foreign Language Pedagogy from Emory University. She has taught French and Foreign Language in the Elementary School Methods for 10 years. Her research interests include FLES teacher development, community engagement through early language learning, and technology use in the foreign language classroom.
Read Kelly’s full bio here.
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