Latinx Education Collaborative Highlights Latino Educators, Celebrates Growing Representation

Daisy Garcia Montoya
Education Reporter

The Latinx Education Collaborative (LEC)/Revolucion Educativa (RevEd) welcomed community members, staff, and awardees to the Samuel U. Rodgers Propeller building at 2050 E 9 Street on Thursday, December 4^th for the annual Impacto Changemaker Awards.

These annual awards look to honor Latino leaders and partner organizations throughout the Kansas City metro community who share the spirit of advocacy, representation and progress in their daily work, bringing equity into the classroom.

LEC and its affiliate 501©4, RevEd focus on education outcomes of Latino students in the Kansas City area by increasing and retaining the number of quality Latino education professionals.

Throughout its mission, the organizations have completed various research analyses on the number of Latino teachers and their representation among students throughout the Kansas City metro area.

Most recently, LEC hosted a press conference in late November where they announced that their Landscape Analysis: Teachers of Color in Kansas City report would be re-released with an update on current numbers in the City. The report that was first released in 2019 in collaboration with the University of Missouri – Kansas City (UMKC) Urban Education Research Center, showcased the relationship between teachers of color and student outcomes, pathways and recruitment of professionals and the representation of teachers in comparison to students.

The press conference featured education leadership from across the state line speaking on the findings of the report.

Among the key findings was an increase in educators of color across the region with representation of Latino educators tripling since 2019, and Missouri Charter Schools leading in employing educators of color.

Additionally it was found that the Kansas City Public Schools (KCPS) and Kansas City Kansas Public Schools (KCKPS) employ nearly one-third of the region’s Latino educators though a 16-point representation gap among Latino students and Latino educator workforce exists.

During the award ceremony, hosts reminded attendees of the power of community and working together in order to continue to increase and retain the number of Latino educators and the influence of representation on student outcomes.

Edgar Palacios, founder and CEO of LEC, shared information on the latest data report that concluded that Latino educators had tripled over the last four years.

“This work started as an idea in 2016, the idea of LEC and RevEd were just ideas of working on building more Latino representation in schools because we have Latino students everywhere,” Palacios said. “I’m really proud of the community that has been built and led by each and everyone. I mean this is a community effort. Education is a community endeavor.”

Palacios said that although there was an overall positive response to the data, they also experienced negative comments from people who questioned the need for Latino educators.

“We have a strong community with people who have shown up for each other and understand what happens when we come together and we take up space proudly. You are all examples of that,” Palacios said.

As awardees accepted their awards, many shared words of encouragement and the importance of education and caring for one another.

“We have to recognize that we are all powerful people. Can we say this? I am a powerful person,” said Ana Garcia-Ashley, winner of the 2025 Impacto Changemaker Award.

“We have to believe that because each and every one of you is influencing the lives of the young, whether they’re your own, neighbors or in your communities. You have the power to change the trajectory of a young person’s life,” Garcia-Ashley said.

After the presentation of awards, attendees were able to socialize, eat appetizers and enjoy music.

Senior Director of Programs, for both organizations, Ivan Ramirez says that these awards are an opportunity for the community to see who is leading change in their communities.

“With the new research showing an increase in Latino educators in Kansas City, these awards hit even harder. They reflect the momentum we’ve been building for years at LEC,” Ramirez said. “Our mission has been to recruit, retain and celebrate Latino educators and now we are seeing the needle move. Our awards are the picture of our community rising. It shows what happens when we invest in our people and honor our leaders.”

In order to receive the award, recipients were nominated by members of the community for showcasing a commitment to education and advocacy for Latino students.

The recipients of this year’s Impacto Changemaker Awards are as follows:

Category: Special Recognition Awards

Partner of the Year: Luis Ortega

Heart of the Community: Luis Lopez

Champion of the Year: Mia Monarca

Power Player: Ben Molina

Category: Courageous Candidate Awards

Sam Dominguez

Alexander Morales

Calley Cuevas Malloy

Alex Sanchez

Category: Educator Impacto Changemaker Awards