As National Teacher of the Year, Juliana plans to advocate for a “joyful and just education” for all students, one that is inclusive and celebratory of all students’ identities, families and communities. Urtubey is the first Latinx National Teacher of the Year since at least 2005. Juliana is a National Board Certified Teacher and holds a bachelor’s degree in bilingual elementary education and a master’s degree in special bilingual education from the University of Arizona. She is a National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Board of Directors member and Teacher Fellow, a Nevada Teach Plus Senior Policy Fellow, and an Understood Teacher Fellow and mentor. She is also a winner of the 2018 Rogers Foundation Heart of Education award.

Lorynn Guerrero is currently teaching English to 9th- and 12th -grade students at the New America School-Las Cruces, a charter high school in Las Cruces, New Mexico. She also teaches teen parents in a GRADS (graduation, reality and dualrole skills) class. Ms. Guerrero e has Advanced Placement certification in literature and composition from New Mexico Highland University and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages certification from Eastern New Mexico University. In 2017, she was nominated for Tú Revista Latina magazine’s Educators for Excellence award. Her first nomination for Teacher of the Year came in 2008, when she was teaching at Hatch Middle School. Her pedagogical priority is to work with students and educators to encourage personalized education for all students.