Wanda Vásquez García is a general music educator, choir director, author of “From Across the Street/Del otro lado de la calle”, advocate, and clinician. A native of the Dominican Republic currently living in Colorado, she holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo, the first University on the American Continent, and a Master’s Degree in Music Education with an emphasis on choral music from the University of Northern Colorado. Currently, she is the general music teacher at the Escuela Bilingüe Pioneer in Lafayette, Colorado, and a Co-Coordinator Choral Database for the Institute for Composer Diversity. As a K-5 music educator, she believes that music serves as a powerful medium for fostering connections and empowering each individual to be their most authentic selves. As an author, she embraces the power of a story in order to connect with one’s own roots and the diversity around us. She is passionate about the importance of increasing diversity and representation in music education from a culturally relevant, responsive, and sustaining lens. Music education should engage the learners in ways that are fun, meaningful, and inclusive in order to embrace each other with respect, tolerance, justice, and a sense of belonging.