2025 International Educator of the Year
HONOREE
Emily Ramirez
Lake Highlands High School, Richardson ISD
KEYNOTE
David Rohde
Pulitzer Prize-winning Investigative Journalist, Author, and Senior Executive Editor at NBC News
HONOREE – Emily Ramirez
Emily Ramirez is a distinguished educator with 13 years of experience cultivating global awareness and academic excellence as a teacher and a Junior World Affairs Council sponsor. She currently teaches AP World History and Mexican American Studies at Lake Highlands High School in the Richardson Independent School District, where she is recognized for her innovative and culturally relevant teaching methods.
As the sponsor of Junior World Affairs Council (JWAC) clubs at Lake Highlands High School and previously at Uplift Williams Preparatory, Ramirez has expanded her impact beyond the classroom by fostering global citizenship and leadership among her students. She co-sponsored the creation of the “Global Awareness Speaker Series,” which has brought experts to her campus from fields such as global health, international business, diplomacy, and human rights. Ramirez has also organized a variety of community service initiatives, including drives for refugee families and hands-on events like building water filters for disaster relief. Additionally, she has mentored hundreds of teenagers through her weekly after-school discussions of current events.
Ramirez holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Oklahoma and a Certificate in Nonprofit Management from the Center for Nonprofit Management. She has received numerous accolades, including being selected for the WACDFW Travel Fellowship to Morocco in 2019 and being honored as the Lake Highlands High School Teacher of the Year in 2022. Seven of her students have been selected as 20 Under 20 recipients and Lake Highlands has been named among the Top 10 JWACs for the past five consecutive years.
KEYNOTE – David Rohde
David Rohde is a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the author of Where Tyranny Begins: The Justice Department, the FBI and the War on Democracy and four other books. He is the national security and law editor at NBC News and a former executive editor of The New Yorker website, where he wrote about the Justice Department, democracy, and disinformation. He is also a former New York Times, Reuters, and Christian Science Monitor reporter.
About The International Educator of the Year Award
In working directly with high schools, the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth has encountered numerous educators devoted to enriching their students’ knowledge of world affairs and expanding international learning opportunities for their students. These teachers and administrators demonstrate leadership by going above and beyond their normal responsibilities.
Just as these teachers feel it is important to help their students develop a better understanding of the world, we at the Council feel it is equally important to recognize the efforts of these dedicated individuals.
Presenting Sponsor
Underwriting Sponsors:
Patron Sponsors
- Marjorie A. Adams
- AECOM
- AT&T
- Axxess
- Jason Ballard – Toyota
- Caterpillar, Inc.
- Cien.ai
- City of Dallas
- Dallas Business Journal
- Dallas College
- Debra & Mike Decker
- Fidelity Investments
- Foley & Lardner LLP
- Frost Bank
- Grant Thornton LLP
- Greenberg Traurig, LLP
- Goldman Sachs
- Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University
- Harwood International
- Hillwood
- HKS Inc.
- JacksonShaw
- Cher & David Jacobs
- Kane Russell Coleman Logan PC
- Bryan Kucholtz
- Bets E. Lillo
- Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company
- NEC Corporation of America
- Ofenloch Consulting
- Mandy Price & Bennie King
- PwC
- Manjusha Shankaradas & Jim Friedmann
- Sidley Austin LLP
- Marvin B. Singleton
- Alishia & John Spriggins
- SMU Cox School of Business
- Paul K. Stafford
- Andrea Strickland
- Texas Instruments
- Kathy & Craig Tiritilli
- University of Texas at Dallas – Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science
- Vistra Energy
- Gary Wolens
