Montserrat Garibay has been a dedicated educator and advocate for public education and labor rights for the past 25 years. Most recently, she was the Assistant Deputy Secretary and Director for the Office of English Language Acquisition. Garibay also served as a Senior Advisor for Labor Relations in the Office of the Secretary at the U.S. Department of Education under the Biden and Harris Administration. 

She was recently appointed to represent the Eastern Region for the National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE). Born in Mexico City, Garibay migrated to the United States as an undocumented child, she became a U.S. Citizen two decades later. 

She earned a master’s degree in Education from the University of Texas at Austin and was a National Board Certified Teacher. 

Garibay’s career includes eight years as a bilingual pre-kindergarten teacher. She later became the Vice President for Certified Employees with Education Austin, a merged local affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association and the AFL-CIO. She also served as the Secretary Treasurer at the Texas AFL-CIO. 

Garibay’s advocacy extended to immigration issues, where she played a pivotal role in promoting the Texas version of the DREAM Act and comprehensive immigration reform.