Margaret was born and raised in Mexico City and speaks Spanish fluently. She moved to the United States to attend Stanford University, where she received a B.S. in Industrial Engineering. Margaret had a successful career as a senior marketing executive at various software and Internet companies.

Now a resident of Lafayette, Margaret is raising her three children to be trilingual. With the opening of ¡Viva el Español! she combined her passion for foreign languages with her experience in business management to provide a high-quality and fun Spanish language program for children all over the San Francisco Bay area.

Margaret won the Women’s Initiative “2010 Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Award”, recognizing her leadership and her organization’s positive contribution to the regional community. Margaret also won the nation-wide Mamás Latinas Award, recognizing outstanding Latina mothers and their inspiring achievements.  In addition, Margaret is well known in the Lafayette community for her volunteer efforts with the Lafayette Juniors, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and local PTA organizations.

When not working at ¡Viva el Español!, Margaret can be seen swimming, hiking, running and skiing.

A native of Panama, Vianca studied marketing and sales at Universidad Latina de Panamá.

In Panama, Vianca had a successful career in accounting in the banking sector, bringing excellent administrative and financial skills to her position as Finance Director of Viva el Español.

A highly motivated young parent with unlimited personal initiative, Vianca is the proud mother of a son and daughter.

Before working at Viva el Español she was very active at her children’s pre-school, where she developed lesson plans for year-long activities for children to learn Spanish, and served as a teacher’s assistant. She also volunteered as treasurer of the PTA for two years.

Originally from Lima, Peru, Maria holds a BA in Child Development from San Francisco State University. She also holds a certificate as an Associate Teacher in Early Childhood Education.

Maria has over 7 years experience working with children and adolescents. In her role as Director of School-Based Programs, Maria coaches and mentors teachers new to the Viva el Español program.

Daniela Acevedo is from Caracas, Venezuela. She moved to Mexico City, where she received a BA in Social Communications with a specialization in marketing and advertising from Universidad Anáhuac.

Daniela’s skills as a Spanish teacher with Viva el Español span teaching from preschool to middle school, making her a talented coach and mentor. Daniela is an avid dancer, specializing in salsa and belly dance. She also has experience as a dance instructor for kindergarten-aged students.

In her free time she enjoys hiking and going to the beach.

Of Mexican heritage, Mariela was born and raised in the United States in a bilingual home. Mariela’s educational background is in Interior Design as well as Theatre Design and Production. She uses her creative and artistic abilities as a means of enriching her Spanish classes. Mariela is fully bilingual and has experience working with high school students as a tutor and mentor. She is currently studying Child Development at Chabot College.

In addition to teaching, Mariela assists with administrative duties in the Viva el Español office.