One Immigrant’s Journey and Legacy in Arlington

Monday, December 8, 2025, 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM

Emma Violand-Sanchez knew little English when she arrived from Bolivia in 1961 to finish high school in Fairfax County. Her Memoir, Dreams and Shadows, is the story of her immigration journey and her lifelong quest to affirm her bicultural identity and ease the path for other immigrants through education, service, and advocacy in the building community. It is also a story of personal struggle, resilience and the power of faith, set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War, waves of immigration, convulsive shifts in federal and state education policy, and the emergence of public schools as a battleground in America’s culture wars. Themes of acculturation, assimilation, identity, biculturalism, bilingualism and the myth of the “melting pot” run through her story.

When Arlington needed to create bilingual education for more than 2,400 immigrants in the 1970s, Emma was hired as a bilingual resource teacher and community engagement specialist. She focused on removing barriers for immigrants, reducing dropout rates, increasing graduation rates. She founded the Dream Project, a non-profit for immigrants to overcome barriers to higher education.

She has invited two former students, now professionals, whom she mentored to share their experiences and how they “paid it forward.”

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