THIS IS A MESSAGE FROM MABE'S PRESIDENT. 

Merhaba, hola, Olá, bonjour, and hello familia de MABE! 

This is Rabia Hoş, your new MABE Board President starting this year July 2026 through July 2028. I am honored to step into this role and I am reaching out to our members and contacts with some important MABE staffing changes.

This is a summer of change for MABE, as we prepare for an Executive Director transition. Phyllis Hardy, who has served MABE since 2006, is stepping down from her position as Executive Director starting September 2026. 

With a background as a bilingual special educator, Phyllis has served the Northeast’s DLBE programs, educators, and students for over 50 years. As a founding member of the Massachusetts Language Opportunity Coalition, she advocated tirelessly for years for passage of the LOOK Act. Her leadership has transformed MABE into a multistate, multifaceted organization, and her innovative coalition-building work is instrumental in advocating for the needs of bilingual students, teachers, and families, across our region and nationally. She is appreciative of the many bilingual educators that joined her in successfully building MABE to what it is today. There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that MABE would not be the education nonprofit it is today without Phyllis’ ardent efforts – I share with you some highlights of her time with us. Although Phyllis will remain with MABE as a Senior Advisor and New England Project SEMBRAR Coordinator, she is looking forward to spending more time with her children, grandkids, and husband – and catching up with other interests.

Phyllis is passing the baton of Executive Director to Dr. Meg Burns. Meg is a DLBE expert and advocate whose experiences as a teacher, researcher, and teacher educator have shaped her work as MABE’s Director of Professional Learning over the past two years. Previously, Meg was Associate Professor of TESOL and Bilingual Education and Program Director of Early Childhood Education at Lesley University, and a first grade teacher in a public Spanish Immersion Dual Language school.

Left to right: Phyllis Hardy, Elissa Washburn, and Dr. Meg Burns. 

Meg has also served MABE as a Board Member, President, and Consultant, contributing to regional advocacy activities and DLBE technical assistance. She holds a B.A. from Vassar College, an M.A. in Applied Linguistics from the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and a Ph.D. in Educational Equity and Cultural Diversity from the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Phyllis and the Board have full confidence in Meg’s capacity to continue to grow MABE and support fellow DLBE educators and programs. Although our team already misses Phyllis’ steady presence and extensive wisdom, we are looking forward to seeing MABE further expand under Meg’s leadership. You’re in good hands, MABE.

Elissa Washburn, who has been a consultant with MABE for more than 6 years and has served as part-time Assistant Director of Professional Learning this past year, will become MABE’s full-time Director of Professional Learning in Meg’s stead. Elissa brings over 15 years experience in DLBE, beginning her career as a third grade DLBE teacher facilitating in Spanish. Elissa holds a M.A. in Bilingual Education from Columbia University. Learn more on MABE’s Staff page. 

We thank you for your continued trust in MABE – it is a trust our whole team carries with care, and one I don’t take lightly as I begin this new chapter with you. And, most importantly, we hope that you are enjoying your summer – wherever it finds you: with family, with rest, with quiet moments that often gets pushed aside during the school year. As educators, summer is a vital time to recharge, reconnect, and return to what refills us – before we gather our energy again for the coming school year. 

In solidarity – dayanışmayla, en solidaridad, em soludariedade, 

This virtual conversation with Dr. Brenda Lewis, the Superintendent of Fridley Public Schools in Minnesota, hosted by the National Center for Youth Law, will take place tomorrow Wednesday, March 11 at 4-5pm ET.