Patricia Velasco started her career as a teacher of hearing impaired children in Mexico City. She received her Masters from McGill University and her doctorate from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She was the founder and director of La Casa de la Ciencia in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, an institution that provided staff development in the areas of literacy and science education in indigenous communities. In Mexico City, Patricia was a faculty member at the University of the Americas. She taught hearing impaired children and supervised student teachers at Orientación Infantil de Rehabilitación Audiológica (OIRA); the clinic attached to the university. After moving to New York City, she first worked for the Reading and Writing Project at Teachers College, Columbia University, where she was also a member of its faculty. Currently, Patricia is Assistant Professor of Education at Queens College, CUNY where she coordinates the Bilingual Education Program and directs the Bilingual Common Core Initiative, a project sponsored by the New York State Department of Education (NYSED).