Kristi has been an educator since 2000 when she began teaching elementary-aged children in California and Oregon. She earned a Master of Science in 2008 in Curriculum and Instruction, focusing her research on literacy assessments and emergent bilingual children. Her passion and zeal for serving multilingual children and families have been an ongoing drive for her work in education. After the birth of her twin boys, Kristi's educational interests shifted towards early childhood education, where she worked as a Pre-K teacher, parenting consultant, community trainer, and instructor in higher education. Since 2016 Kristi has worked with preservice educators in higher education, focusing on supporting students in early childhood and elementary settings, and building successful PRAXIS supports for students. Kristi recently completed PhD coursework at UCCS in the Educational Leadership, Research, and Foundations program, and will focus next on completing her dissertation. Her research interests include Latinx teacher pipeline, developmental education, DEI, community colleges, culturally relevant education, and early childhood educators.