Welcome to our New 2022-2023 Board!    

Joseph Hester

 Allison Lewis

ITBE Link / Social Media Chair / Publicity Chair   
Contact: socialmedia@itbe.org
Allison Lewis has taught ESL at various community colleges and community-based organizations in the Chicago area. She received a B.A. in English and Secondary Education from Wheaton College, and she received an M.A. in Linguistics/TESOL from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She first developed an interest in teaching English when she started tutoring refugees in 2010. She has taught ESL to students of all levels and also has experience in curriculum and materials development. She is the author of two graded readers for ESL students: My Fake Boyfriend and Amazing Lives: The True Stories of Eight Famous Americans. 

Mary Elizabeth Moore

Treasurer / Proposal Co-Chair
Contact: proposals@itbe.org

Mary Elizabeth Moore currently works at Harper College in Palatine, IL and at College of Dupage in Glen Ellyn, IL as an instructor in academic ESL and adult education and literacy. She has experience in placement testing and essay scoring and seven years’ experience in ESL tutoring. She completed her M.A. in TESOL and intercultural studies at Wheaton College Graduate School in 2015, after which she taught reading and writing for a year in an intensive English program run by ELS Language Services. Mary Elizabeth has taught in two summer English programs in China and has travelled in India and Ireland. She became interested in ESL as a vocation while completing her B.A. in English at Martin Methodist College in her home state of Tennessee, where she participated in an undergraduate ESL program, tutored international students, and roomed with Korean students who became lifelong friends. Some of her academic interests are writing composition, innovative teaching methods, and emotional intelligence/teacher and student mental health. Other interests include singing, cooking and international travel.

Gina Johnson Wells
Advocacy Co-Chair
Contact: advocacy@itbe.org

Gina Johnson Wells has been an educator for nearly all of her professional life. A faculty member in the Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Department at Northeastern Illinois University, Dr. Wells teaches courses in the TESOL Department, serves as the NEIU Graduate Program Advisor to MA TESOL and ESL Endorsement students, and teaches Bilingual/Bicultural courses in the Goodwin College of Education. She is a member of the NEIU Black Student Success Committee and NEIU’s Illinois Equity in Attainment/Partnership for College Completion Committee. Dr. Wells holds a PhD in Professional Studies in Education, focused on Educational Inquiry and Curriculum Studies, from Capella University. She holds two Master’s Degrees: one in TESOL and one in Music Education. Previously, she was a coordinator for the NEIU Grow Your Own (GYO) Teachers Program. Dr. Wells, a professionally licensed music educator, has taught music in four states in the U.S. and in Sweden. Her interests include: policy and advocacy for English Language Learners and TESOL teaching professionals; the role of cultural competency in the retention of minoritized student populations; and the processes that facilitate intercultural competence and cultural proficiency in all teachers, in general, and teachers of English Language Learners, specifically. Additionally, Dr. Wells enjoys singing, traveling, being outdoors, reading, playing board games, and spending time with her husband and their adult children. She speaks Swedish and has studied French, Spanish, and American Sign Language.

Huseyin Uysal
Advocacy Co-Chair
Contact: advocacy@itbe.org

Dr. Huseyin Uysal is a visiting assistant professor at the Department of Educational Studies at Knox College in Galesburg, IL. He received his undergraduate degree in English Language Teaching from Mehmet Akif Ersoy University, his master’s degree in Linguistics from Ankara University, and his PhD degree in Curriculum and Instruction, specializing in ESOL/Bilingual Education from the University of Florida. He taught at various higher education settings including Turkey, Colombia, and the U.S. His scholarship is driven by the values of social justice and grounded in understanding power, identity, and inclusivity in linguistically and culturally diverse schools. He positions himself within the critical and constructivist paradigms by advocating for long-term English learners in the U.S. schools. Some of his research interests include fairness, justice, and equity in language testing, test-taker perspectives on assessment practices, and English learner reclassification.

Marcia Luptak 
Convention Proposal Co-Chair
Contact: proposals@itbe.org 

Jesus Villegas
Convention Program Designer
Contact: 

Ayesha Riaz
Awards Co-Chair
Contact: awards@itbe.org