Deborah Rosalea Esparza is a retired teacher, principal and district administrator. In her years as practicing school leader, Deborah advocated for culturally responsive instruction for all students in a 21st Century Learning framework. As an Area Education Officer in Chicago she guided her schools in the implementation of Feuerstein's Instrumental Enrichment program even as her district lead the city in high achievement scores. Currently, she is Executive Director of the Illinois Consortium and is leading an all-district implementation of the MindQuest21 transformation model throughout the districts' schools.