Our Team

Many people help contribute to Colorín Colorado's success! They include the following individuals, as well as our colleagues at the American

Staff

  • Lydia Breiseth, Director, Colorín Colorado
  • Noel Gunther, Executive Director
  • Christian Lindstrom, Director, Learning Media
  • Tina Chovanec, Director, Reading Rockets
  • Ashley Gilleland, Senior Producer
  • Dr. Karen Ford, Research Consultant
  • Rachael Walker, Outreach Consultant
  • Antonieta Romero-Follette, Translation Consultant

Lydia Breiseth is Director of Colorín Colorado, which is a part of the Learning Media Department of PBS station WETA in Washington, DC. In this capacity, Ms. Breiseth manages editorial content, multimedia production, partnerships, and outreach for the website. Ms. Breiseth has presented Colorín Colorado’s resources at a number of national conferences, including TESOL, NABE, CABE, NAEYC, OELA, the AFT’s TEACH Conference, and the Latino Children’s Book Conference. Ms. Breiseth has published articles on a variety of educational and literacy blogs on behalf of Colorín Colorado.

Ms. Breiseth has taught both English and Spanish as foreign languages and spent a year in Ecuador teaching English to graduate students with the educational exchange program WorldTeach. Ms. Breiseth received her Bachelor's Degree in English with a Minor in Latin American Studies from Cornell University. She lives in Arlington, VA with her husband and daughter.

Noel Gunther, executive director of Reading Rockets, has overseen the project since its inception. Gunther has broad experience in radio, television, print, and the Internet. He has co-written and co-produced award-winning documentaries for NPR and Public Radio International, including: Good Morning Vietnam with Adrian Cronauer (Gold Award, Best Culture/Arts Program, International Radio Festival of New York; Ohio State Award); American Voices: Norman Corwin with Charles Kuralt (Grand Award, Best Documentary Program, International Radio Festival of New York); Gray Matters: Depression with Mike Wallace (Gold Award, International Radio Festival of New York); and Drugs, Alcohol and the Brain (Gold Cindy Award, best documentary; Grand Award, Best Informational Program, International Radio Festival of New York).

For television, Gunther's work includes the PBS documentary A Tale of Two Schools, narrated by Morgan Freeman, and the five-part public TV series Exploring Your Brain. For the Internet, Gunther created and developed the LD OnLine web site, which since 1996 has been the leading web site in the field of learning disabilities. LD OnLine won a Clarion Award in 1998 as the best nonprofit web site in the country. Gunther is co-author of Beyond Boardwalk and Park Place (Bantam Books), which was named by the New York Public Library as one of the best young adult books of the year. He has also written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Village Voice, Washingtonian, American Journalism Review, and many other publications. He is a graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School.

Christian Lindstrom is a producer for WETA Learning Media where her work includes developing television programs, Web sites, and print materials about reading, learning disabilities, mental health, and brain science. Her work on A Tale of Two Schools included directing, writing, and offline editing. She is currently producing additional episodes of the Launching Young Readers series.

Previously, Lindstrom worked as coordinating producer for Exploring Your Brain with Garrick Utley: The Brain-Body Connection, winner of the Gold International CINDY Award; and for Exploring Your Brain: Stress, Trauma, and the Brain, winner of a Time Inc. International Health and Medical Film Festival Award, a Silver CINDY Award, and the James and Sarah Brady Award for Public Service from the Brain Injury Association; and as associate producer for the three-part series Exploring Your Brain with Garrick Utley, winner of the 1998 National Alliance for the Mentally Ill's Outstanding Broadcast Media Award for Science.

Previously, she served as production coordinator for the television program Look What You've Done! with Dr. Robert Brooks, about learning disabilities and self-esteem, and for When the Chips Are Down… with Richard Lavoie, about learning disabilities and discipline. Lindstrom also played a significant role in developing LD OnLine, WETA's award-winning learning disabilities Web site.

Maria Salvadore is Reading Rockets' consultant for children's literature and literacy. She is an adjunct faculty member at the University of Maryland, reviewer for School Library Journal and Capitol Choices, and former member of the American Library Association's Notable Children's Book Committee. She was previously coordinator of children's services for the District of Columbia Public Library system and Cambridge (MA) Public Library. She currently works with PBS's Ready to Learn project, the Kennedy Center's education department, Reading Is Fundamental, and the Catholic Charities Parenting Program.

Maria has chaired or served on various book award committees including the Washington Post/Children's Book Guild Nonfiction Award, the Boston Globe/Horn Book Awards, Golden Kite and the Caldecott Committee. She is the co-author with Susan Hepler of Books Kids Will Talk About.

Research Advisors

The following individuals have served as Colorín Colorado ELL advisors and authors.

Editorial Advisors

Additional editorial guidance is provided by the American Federation of Teachers' ELL Educator Cadre.

The Honor Roll

We also grateful to the following individuals for their information, advice, and support during the development of Colorín Colorado:

  • Dr. Margarita Calderón, Principal Research Scientist, Center for Data-Driven Reform in Education (CDDRE), Johns Hopkins University
  • Maria Hernandez Ferrier, Ed.D., former Director, U.S. Department of Education, Office of English Language Acquisition, Language Enhancement, and Academic Achievement for Limited English Proficient Students (OELA)
  • Kathleen Leos, President and CEO of The Global Institute for Language and Literacy Development
  • Dr. Liliana Minaya-Rowe, Professor Emeritus, Neag School of Education, University of Connecticut
  • Pat Mora, children's author, poet, and literacy advocate
  • Delia Pompa, V.P. Education, National Council of la Raza
  • Dr. Kathleen Ross-Kidder, former Director, LD OnLine
  • Dr. Isabel Schon, Director, Barahona Center for the Study of Books in Spanish for Children and Adolescents
  • Jacqueline Vialpando, Language and Literacy Coordinator, National Council of La Raza
  • Dr. Claude Goldenberg, Stanford University, School of Education
  • Dr. Michael Kamil, Stanford University, School of Education
  • Dr. Timothy Shanahan, University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Education

Also many thanks to Mariela Aguilar, Rose Bornstein, Maria Dyson, Nancy Flores, Mia French, Maria Gómez, Oralia Garza de Cortes, Tracy Gray, Cynthia Hunnicut, Diane Lyon, Anita Merina, Jayme Ribeiro Neto, Emma Resfuerzo, Rosana Rodríguez, Malcom Tronic, and Abelardo Villarreal.

We can't forget to extend a special thank you to Pam McKeta, Susan Petroff and David Meissner for the original concept development and creation of Colorín Colorado.