Elisa Zwier Dralle, Ph.D.

Elisa Zwier Dralle, Ph.D., is the Dual Language Program Coordinator for the ALMA Initiative in the Institute of Educational Initiatives and the Alliance for Catholic Education at the University of Notre Dame. In this role she supports Dual Language programming in Catholic schools and the ECLIP (Early Childhood Language Intensive) program. She is passionate about supporting English and Spanish multilingual learners, their teachers, and their school communities.

Previously, Dr. Zwier Dralle was an Assistant Professor of Education at Goshen College. She was the founding Director of Teach Elkhart County, a "grow your own" program preparing BIPOC teachers from and for Elkhart County Schools. In 2024 she received the Diversity and Inclusion Change Agent Award from the Association for Independent Liberal Arts Colleges of Teacher Education for her design and implementation of this teacher mentorship program.

Dr. Zwier Dralle received her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Curriculum & Instruction in December 2018. She majored in Teacher Education, with a minor in Educational Policy Studies. Her dissertation focused school-family-community partnerships in Honduran schools. She has co-authored several articles and chapters on intersectionality and education. Prior to that, Elisa was the Curriculum Coordinator for Zamorano University, an agricultural institution in Honduras. She has also held positions as an adjunct professor of education at the Universidad Pedagógica Nacional Francisco Morazán, a consultant for PK-12 bilingual Catholic schools, and an elementary teacher. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education, with a TESOL minor from Goshen College, and a Master’s degree in Curriculum & Instruction (Global Studies, Teaching, & Curriculum) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Elisa is Spanish-English bilingual and bicultural. She was born in Honduras, grew up in the Dominican Republic, and later on spent over a decade working in Honduras. Elisa and her husband live on the far west side of South Bend. They own the Indiana Happiness Project, LLC, where they grow vegetables, fruit, and cut flowers using sustainable methods. In her free time, Elisa loves flower arranging, reading, hiking, and sharing meals with family and friends.