About EBC

Young multilingual learners bring a wealth of linguistic and cultural assets to our communities. Yet they are often underserved and overlooked in our education system.

The Emerging Bilingual Collaborative—a coalition of foundations—invests in California’s public education system at the local, regional, and state levels to ensure young multilingual learners have the opportunities they need to thrive.

Mission

Vision

All multilingual learners in California graduate high school with agency in a multilingual world.

Invest in California’s education system to ensure all young multilingual learners (PreK-3rd grade) have access to a culturally affirming, intellectually rich education that develops biliteracy in both their home language and English.

Our History

In 2019, a coalition of foundations launched the Emerging Bilingual Collaborative to support young multilingual students and the educators who serve them. 

At the heart of the Emerging Bilingual Collaborative (EBC) has always been a commitment to high-quality instruction. While we recognize the importance of high-quality teaching, we've come to understand that it must be embedded within a larger ecosystem where teaching and learning can thrive.

For young multilingual learners and their educators, this means fostering environments that extend beyond excellent instruction—classrooms must be culturally and linguistically responsive, celebrate multilingualism, and embrace the full spectrum of strengths that students and educators bring.

Where We Are Today

This understanding has inspired us to evolve our approach to ensure our strategies deliver high-quality instruction and also cultivate learning environments that uplift and celebrate multilingualism. Starting in 2024, we expanded our focus to champion bilingual education, empower multilingual educators of color, and unite educators, families, students, and administrators to advance an equitable multilingual education system.

Our Key Strategies

Narrative Change

Supporting the infrastructure for narrative change that will activate support for an equitable and accessible multilingual education system.

State support

Enhancing the state system of support for a multilingual education system.

Regional Coherence

Developing regional system conditions that foster a multilingual education system.

Local Learning ENvironments

Developing intellectually rich, culturally affirming teaching & learning environments that foster multilingualism.

Who We Are

Kenneth Rainin Foundation
Silvergiving Foundation
Heising-Simons Foundation
James B McClatchy Foundation
Sobrato Philanthropies

Aligned Collaborators

Ballmer

National MLL Funder Collaborative

Join Our Community

If you are a funder looking for opportunities to support multilingual learners in California, please reach out to Kathleen Dutta, Director of the EBC at info@emergingbilingualcollaborative.org

our advisors

  • Dr. Zenaida Aguirre-Muñoz

    Professor of Cognitive Science, UC Merced

  • Jorge Cuevas Antillón

    District Advisor for Curriculum and Instruction of Dual Language and English Learners, San Diego County Office of Education

  • Ruth Barajas

    Director of English Learner Leadership and Legacy Initiative, Californians Together

  • Gloria Corral

    President & CEO, Parent Institute for Quality Education (PIQE)

  • Guadalupe Diaz Lara

    Assisstant Professor, CSU Fullerton

  • Crystal Gonzales

    Executive Director, English Learners Success Forum

  • Anya Hurwitz

    Executive Director, Sobrato Early Academic Language (SEAL)

  • Lupe Jaime-Mileham

    Deputy Director, Child Care and Development Division, California Department of Social Services

  • Nicole Knight

    Executive Director, Office of English Language Learner Multilingual Achievement, Oakland Unified School District

  • Patricia Lozano

    Executive Director, Early Edge California

  • Alesha Moreno-Ramirez

    Multilingual Support Division Director, California Department of Education

  • Sarah Neville-Morgan

    Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction, Opportunities for All Branch, California Department of Education

  • Carola Oliva-Olson

    Vice President of Early Childhood Studies, EDvance College

  • Laurie Olsen

    President of the Board, Californians Together

  • Cara Onofre

    Senior Vice President of Policy & Advocacy, Partnership for Los Angeles Schools

  • Feliza Ortiz-Licon

    Chief of Staff, New Teacher Center

  • Mary Sandy

    Executive Director, California Commission of Teacher Credentialing

  • Lygia Stebbing

    President and CEO, EDvance College

  • Yolanda Valdez

    Superintendent, Cutler Orosi Joint Unified School District