Jacqueline San Diego is a 2024-2025 Illinois Policy Fellow and high school special education teacher at Intrinsic Schools’ Belmont Campus in Chicago, Illinois. She focuses on teaching diverse learners and English language learners to help them achieve their dreams and goals, fostering safe and brave spaces for them to explore, gain independence, and empower them to use their voices for advocacy. Jacqueline was named the 2024 Illinois Special Education Teacher of the Year and was a Fellow of the Class of 2024 Teach for America Leaders of Color for Systems Change Fellowship. She embarked on her teaching career as a 2018 Teach for America corps member and has since taught various subjects in 7th-12th grade in the neighborhood in which she grew up. She earned a BA in global studies and Spanish at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a MAT from Relay Graduate School of Education.
