About the Membership Committee

The purpose of the membership committee is to promote growth and sustainability in the NAELPA organization through organizing events, collaborating with other committees, and enhancing member exclusive opportunities. The committee also provides overall support for the NAELPA Membership Coordinator to track membership and ensure successful membership related communications.

The Membership Committee Meets the first Tuesday of every month from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm ET/10:00am - 11:00 am CT/9:00 am - 10:00 am MT/8:00am - 9:00 am PT

Learn More and Join the Membership Committee

Meet the chairs

Erica Sponberg
Membership Coordinator

Erica Sponberg is an English Learner Specialist for the Indiana Department of Education. There, she supports school districts in managing their state and federal grants for their Multilingual Learners and Refugee populations. Her background is in language learning and teaching, and has held various positions within the international and national education fields over the last 20 years. Erica is passionate about lifting up the teaching profession through capacity and community building, which is why she values her NAELPA membership!

Carlene Thomas
Membership Committee Chair

Carlene Thomas is the CEO and founder of an educational consulting company that advocates for equity for multilingual learners (MLs) and specializes in support for bilingual education and English as a second language (ESL) programs. Carlene also currently advocates at the national level by serving as co-chair of the membership committee for the National Association for English Learner Program Administrators (NAELPA) and on the leadership team for the National Newcomer Network (NNN). Throughout her career, Carlene has been able to impact MLs through multiple perspectives. After teaching as a Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) professor at a university in Bejing, China, she returned to the states with a clear passion for MLs. In Texas, Carlene has worked in various roles including ESL teacher (in both elementary and secondary school settings), ESL curriculum writer, ML compliance coordinator, ESL director, regional ESL/migrant educational consultant, and the ESL Program Coordinator for the state of Texas. In her work at the Texas Education Agency, Carlene developed extensive compliance guidance resources, program implementation and evaluation tools, training materials, and comprehensive guidance on instructional practices for MLs. She is dedicated to serving MLs and their families by promoting additive bilingualism within all programs for MLs.