Guadalupe Quintanilla was told she was mentally retarded in the first grade. She was 13 years old and had just arrived in Brownsville, TX from Mexico. Communication and testing were all conducted in English, and the young girl had no chance of success. Sadly, she believed the verdict.

Today, Dr. Quintanilla is the President of the Cross Cultural Communication Center of Houston and an Associate Professor of the Department of Hispanic and Classical Languages of the University of Houston. She was the first Hispanic U.S. Representative to the United Nations in 1984, and served as co-chair of the National Institute of Justice and co-chair of the National Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans. Honors include induction to the National Hispanic Hall of Fame and to the Hispanic Women Hall of Fame.

Dr. Quintanilla has devoted much of her time to teaching Spanish in business, community, law enforcement, and legal settings. She has also led a charge against the high dropout rate among Hispanic students.

We look forward to welcoming Dr. Quintanilla  at the Gulf Coast Literacy Conference.

Click on announcement below to link to conference registration.