Lifetime Leader in Latino Education Award Honorees of the Week, Vol. II

These three exemplary educational leaders have received the Lifetime Leader in Latino Education Award from Footsteps2Brilliance. This Hispanic Heritage Month, we honor them for their hard work and dedication to promoting literacy in Latino and Hispanic communities. Read about each awardee below.

Dr. Barbara Nemko is currently the longest-serving county superintendent in California, having served since 1997. She is passionate about helping teachers implement digital resources to close the racial and economic achievement gaps, and she spearheaded a Countywide Innovation Preschool Digital Early Literacy program, Footsteps2Brilliance, which won the Collaboration Nation grand prize in 2015 and the ACSA Family Engagement award in 2016.

Barbara was honored as CUE’s Legislative Advocate in 2013, and ISTE’s Public Policy Advocate in 2014. She was honored with the Digital Promise Digital Innovation Learning Award (DILA) in 2014, and the California County Superintendent’s Champion’s Award in 2019. She is excited about the potential of AI and ChatGPT for all students, and is a frequent presenter at local and state conferences.

When not working, Barbara is active in Rotary, and on the boards of several local agencies. She also loves community theater, both as an audience member and performer, as well as spending time and cooking for her immediate and extended friends and family.

Napa County Office of Education

Darryl J. Henson, Ed.D. , a native of Houston, currently serves as the Superintendent of Schools for the Marlin Independent School District , a rural district southeast of Waco. Within his first two years leading the district, Marlin ISD experienced unprecedented gains on state assessment results. During the 2021-2022 school year, the district earned an academic rating of an 86 (B), eradicated ten consecutive years of failed or ‘F’ ratings from the Texas Education Agency. These turnaround efforts led to Marlin ISD having the highest student achievement growth in the state, a fifteen percent increase in student enrollment, and a reinvigorated sense of school spirit and community pride. Marlin ISD is not only recognized locally, but across the state and nation as a leader in school improvement. Most notably, Marlin Elementary School has been named a National Demonstration School and Marlin ISD a State Demonstration District by the National Alliance of Black School Educators.

In the early years of his career, Dr. Henson served as a fourth-grade teacher in the Austin Independent School District, followed by teaching middle and high school mathematics and special education in the Pflugerville and Houston ISDs. His first leadership position came when he was promoted to an instructional specialist at John H. Reagan High School in the Houston Independent School District.

Prior to joining Marlin ISD, Dr. Henson served as the Assistant Superintendent of School Leadership in Cedar Hill ISD. In this role, he supervised, supported, and coached all the district’s campuses and principals, as well as the curriculum and instruction department.

Prior to his appointment in Cedar Hill ISD, Dr. Henson served as the principal of North Forest High School in the Houston Independent School District, principal of Parkland High School in the Ysleta Independent School District, and with other experiences as a classroom teacher, coach, and principal in the Austin, Houston, and El Paso regions.

During his tenures at North Forest and Parkland high schools, both campuses experienced unparalleled gains on state assessments. Parkland High School was one of the 1.9% of Texas schools to earn all seven Distinction Designations from the Texas Education Agency. Under his leadership, Dr. Henson led the efforts of guiding North Forest High School in earning the highest student progress measure of all Achieve 180 high school campuses in the Houston Independent School District in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.

Throughout the years, Dr. Henson has been regarded for his passion and vibrant personality as he has built lasting relationships with students and communities across Texas. Dr. Henson firmly believes that culture, curriculum, and community are the pillars of establishing and maintaining a thriving school system.

Dr. Henson earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from The University of Texas at Austin, a master’s degree in educational leadership and policy studies from the University of Texas at Arlington, and a doctoral degree in curriculum and instruction from the University of Houston. Dr. Henson has professional affiliations with the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Texas Alliance of Black School Educators, Texas Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents, and Texas Association of School Administrators.

Yasmin E. H. is a first generation Cuban-American multicultural educator, leader and consultant with thirty-two years' experience in New Jersey. She is currently the Director of Education Compliance at Porzio Compliance Services , LLC. Prior to joining PorzioCS, Yasmin is the founding president of the New Jersey Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents (NJALAS) in 2022 and the Vice President of the Non-Profit, Lift English Language Learners to Success, L.E.T.S. Most recently, she served as the Executive County Superintendent of Schools in Mercer, Middlesex, and Burlington Counties. She was the only Hispanic female serving in this capacity for the New Jersey Department of Education. During her tenure, Yasmin was responsible for overseeing over 50 public, charter and private school districts.

Yasmin developed the Mercer & Middlesex Counties Multilingual Consortium Councils, the Mercer County Curriculum Council, and the Mercer County Women in Leadership Council. With a focus on the social and emotional well-being of the school communities, she created partnerships with Mercer County Mental Health Division. In 2021, she helped to open the Newcomer SLIFE Academy at the Mercer County Technical School, the first New Jersey academy dedicated to at-risk multilingual and multicultural learners with limited and interrupted formal education providing equity and excellence for students.

Yasmin served as a board of trustees’ member for the Mercer, Middlesex and Burlington County Community Colleges, a board member of the Mercer, Middlesex and Burlington Vocational & Technical Schools, and a board member for the Mercer, Middlesex, and Burlington County Special Services School Districts. She was a member of the New Jersey and Mercer County Council on Juvenile Justice System Improvement. She was a co-chair of the Mercer County Youth Education Stability Committee and a member on various Mercer County social and emotional mental health committees. She was a member of the Mercer County New Jersey School Boards Association, the New Jersey Association of School Administrators (NJASA), the Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents (ALAS), the School Superintendents Association (AASA), NJPSA/FEA ELL Committee, member of LUPE, Inc., and Executive Board member for ten years as the NJDOE representative for NJTESOL/NJBE. She currently is a member of the Latina Civic Foundation and the NJ Women's Political Caucus.

Before joining the NJDOE, Yasmin was an urban educator for twenty-23 years in the largest urban school district in New Jersey, the Newark Public Schools where she served as a teacher, staff developer and district level administrator for fifteen years. She created and supervised the Newark International Newcomer Student Center for multilingual SLIFE students. It was the recipient of the 2010 NJDOE Bilingual/ESL Model Program of Excellence. She also worked as an educational consultant on a state and national level for over ten years.

Yasmin earned her undergraduate bachelor’s degree in Spanish Literature and Certification in Education from Rutgers University and her Master’s in Urban Education from Jersey City State University with District Administration Certification. She attended summer institutes at the Universities of Salamanca, Spain, and Mayagüez and San Germán, Puerto Rico, where she took courses for teachers of foreign language students. She has attended the SUPES National Academy for Leadership, Harvard & Princeton Leadership Institutes, and the advanced leadership certification program, NJEXCEL. Yasmin holds certifications as School Administrator, Principal, Supervisor, ESL Teacher, Bilingual/Bicultural Teacher, Spanish Teacher, and K-8 Elementary Teacher.

She is a frequent lecturer on equity and excellence, curriculum and instruction, Bilingual/ESL education, and social and emotional learning. She has received numerous awards, including the 2020 NJTESOL/NJBE President’s Award for her advocacy, dedication and contribution to Bilingual Education and multilingual learners in New Jersey, the 2021 Trailblazer Award from the Lawrenceville School District, and in 2010 the first NJDOE Bilingual/ESL Model Program of Excellence Award in the Newark Public Schools.

Footsteps2Brilliance ? is proud to work with these transformational leaders as a partner in literacy. Read more about the Lifetime Leader in Latino Education Award here.