Eugene, OR — Avant, The Language Proficiency Company, is pleased to welcome Mara S. Cobe to the team on June 1, 2026.
Cobe will primarily work with our expanding network of collaboration partners, supporting educators and learners as they strengthen language instruction, proficiency-based assessment, and meaningful recognition of students’ language abilities.
She brings more than 33 years of K–12 world language education experience to Avant. She began her career teaching Spanish and French in Central Illinois and Northern Virginia before relocating to Charlotte, North Carolina in 2001. There, she continued teaching French and Spanish before transitioning into district-level coaching and leadership, where she served educators and language programs for more than 20 years.
Her contributions to the field have earned significant recognition, including the 2025 NADSFL Supervisor of the Year Award, the 2020 SCOLT Leadership Award, and the 2014 FLANC Honorary Life Member Award.
“We are honored to welcome Mara to Avant,” said David Bong, CEO and Co-Founder of Avant. “Mara’s leadership in language education and her long-standing commitment to proficiency-based learning make her a natural fit for Avant. Her experience supporting educators and students across diverse language programs will strengthen our work with schools and collaboration partners worldwide.”
At Avant, Cobe’s experience will inform her work helping educators and students demonstrate, measure, and celebrate language proficiency, whether students are developing a heritage language or acquiring a new one.
“My life’s work has been guided by a simple but profound belief: that language is not a subject to be mastered, but a human bridge to be built,” said Cobe. “For more than three decades in world language education, I have dedicated myself to creating spaces where students and educators feel safe enough to find their voices and brave enough to use them.
I chose to work with Avant because of their dedication to authentic language assessment, especially for less commonly taught languages. Over the past two decades, in district roles, I consistently chose Avant assessments for our Dual Language Immersion programs, our students earning heritage language credits and for students earning the Global Languages Endorsement (NC Seal of Biliteracy). The assessments provided valid and reliable data for program design and improvement, as well as measurements of student success that are aligned to the state and national standards. I have always appreciated Avant’s commitment to their products and customers.”
Cobe’s experience in classroom teaching, instructional coaching, and district-level leadership aligns with Avant’s mission to support real-world language proficiency and expand access to meaningful language recognition.