Andrew Lovato

Andrew Lovato became the City Historian of Santa Fe in 2018, and has been an Associate Professor of Speech Communication at Santa Fe Community College since 2008. He has authored numerous books and articles, including 2004’s Santa Fe Hispanic Culture: Preserving Identity in a Tourist Town and 2011’s “The Year Zozobra Escaped: Featuring Zozobra’s Great Escape”, exploring New Mexican culture as it takes shape in Santa Fe and what it means for one to be Hispanic in a community becoming increasingly impacted by global and tourist-oriented forces.

Chris Sylvan

From the shooting death of James Boyd, to the Black Lives Matter movement, from scathing Department of Justice reports on excessive force, to fears of militarization; whatever your perspectives on law enforcement are, the public perception of police departments has grown far from trusting, and many communities feel unheard.

But what if this communication barrier were torn down? What if grassroot voices and law enforcement officials could recognize their common goal and work together to achieve that goal instead of holding each other back?

Chris Sylvan has spent much of his career as a community organizer in many fields, but not least or last as the Albuquerque Police Department’s Community Outreach Manager. In his current role he is helping to bring stability back to the Community Policing Councils (CPCs) that facilitate communication between the pubic and the police. Albuquerque’s CPCs have become a model that municipalities across the US are trying to emulate, and Sylvan hopes that his leadership and energy will help these CPCs inspire better police-civilian relations.

David Campbell

David Campbell believes that Albuquerque is a great city that is only beginning to believe its greatness.

Why does he believe this? First hand experience, of course: Campbell has spent much of his career working with the City of Albuquerque. In addition to serving under the mayoral administrations of Harry Kinney, Louis Saavedra and Richard Berry, he practiced zoning and planning law as a New Mexico Attorney for almost 25 years, and he also served as an Albuquerque City Attorney and Chief Administrative Officer. He even served as a U.S. diplomat in countries and cities such as Mauritius, Ecuador, Seychelles and the District of Columbia. Recently, he was named City Planning Director by Mayor Tim Keller.

Monique Fragua

From the banks of the Jemez River to the boardroom of a large organization, Monique Fragua is a portrait of Pueblo women’s strength, determination, and love of community. She is the FIRST woman to accept a presidency role at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center(IPCC) and Indian Pueblos Marketing, Inc. (IPMI). As Vice President of Operations, Monique has made it her personal mission to employ people from Native communities and provide them with the training and resources to advance their individual skills, so they impact their communities through enhanced abilities to lead, by speaking up when needed, and making changes to benefit those around them. #CreditHer#WeShallContinue

The IPCC has a very special place in Monique’s heart. “IPCC is my world and means everything to me,” she says. “This is the place where I want to be. This place is truly special in that it directly impacts Pueblo communities in the work we do each day.”

Whether it’s carrying on traditions at Jemez Pueblo or earning her MBA in a single year, Monique always remembers, one more ‘no’ is always closer to a ‘yes.’

Sofia Michelle Sanchez

What does it mean to be a citizen? For Sofia Michelle Sanchez, being a citizen of Albuquerque means embracing it and serving it. She loves the city in which she was born and raised, and has committed herself to bringing positive momentum into the city and helping the community reach its full potential. In her words, “the people here deserve it.”

Sanchez served as an intern for Lieutenant Governor Diane Denish, a Field Organizer for Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, and a Coordinator of Collective Impact for an Americorps VISTA program through the City of Albuquerque Mayor’s Office. She also served as a reporter for UNM’s Daily Lobo, Talk Radio News Service and the New Mexico Broadcasters Association. Today she serves as the Coordinator for ABQ Volunteers in Mayor Keller’s office, and as a participant on the Future Fund Board, where she is helping foster a culture of service, assess community needs, and develop new ideas.

T.J. Cook

T.J. Cook has made it his mission to bring companies and communities together, and empower them through leadership, facilitation and management. Cook previously helmed Benefit Corporation, where he brought together an award-winning team of strategists, designers and engineers, launching over 100 digital solutions for companies such as Lego, Singularity U and IDEO. Now he is the Executive Director of ABQid, a startup that helps early-stage companies tap into their high growth potential and deep thinking.

Angel Mondragon

Blockchain technology was originally developed for Bitcoin, the digital currency that has millions of both advocates and skeptics. But even though he works in digital finance, Angel Mondragon believes that blockchain technology can do so much more than just that. As the CEO of a blockchain full service bank, and as a senior crypto advisor for a publicly traded company, Mondragon’s passion for the sciences and his innate curiosity have led him to pioneer in the crypto industry and educate other crypto entrepreneurs and developers. He sees blockchain technology, a form of collaboration that emphasizes decentralization and transparency in shared data, can and is revitalizing industries that have stagnated.

Arman Rashidi

Arman Rashidi is a research assistant at the Center for High Technology Materials, and a PhD candidate in the UNM Optical Science & Engineering Program. He has also written several scientific articles and presented at several national conferences about his research, which has led to improvements in LED technology. But if none of that sheds light on how exciting his work can be, then his current research on developing high-speed blue LEDs for future visible-light communication and lighting systems may shed that light. Imagine—a light bulb that can transmit and connect you to the internet!

Chantelle Wagner

Chantelle Wager earned a Bachelor of Business Administration and a Master’s in Accounting from the University of New Mexico, then becoming a Certified Public Accountant. But after a decade of working in finance, she realized that her calling was not with finance but with the livelihood that her family has had for over a century: farming in Corrales, where she grew up. She had to get back outside, grow her own food and return to nature. So that is exactly what she did. And upon returning home she opened Big Jim Kid’s Farm to share this message with society.

David Rakel

Many people have fears of a future in which artificial intelligence has replaced human labor and rendered us useless. But alongside these fears, many people are also finding ideas and hope for a future in which artificial intelligence helps humans.

David Rakel launched his career in health in Idaho, where he worked in rural private medical practice for five years. After this, he completed a two-year residential fellowship in integrative medicine at the University of Arizona Health Services Center. At the University of Wisconsin he founded and directed the Integrative Medicine Program, and served as a tenured professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the School of Medicine and Public Health. Today, Rakel is the Chair of the UNM School of Medicine’s Department of Family and Community Medicine, as well as the author of The Compassionate Connection. Rakel is passionate about integrative medicine, an approach that focuses on all of the patient’s physical, mental, social, and mental needs, and sees a future in which artificial intelligence allows physicians to spend more time providing compassionate care.

Devont’e Watson

Devont’e Watson believes that the fight for denuclearization begins where each person has made it their mission to replace acts of violence with acts of compassion and passion, and to create a global community that values community and acceptance over division.

Watson is a graduate from UNM studying international relations and economics, emphasis on national security studies and business management, and holds a strategic analysis certificate. He is the founder of Watson & Associates International, LLC, a firm specializing in economic development and research, and has served as a youth advisor to New Mexican and federal political figures such as Richard Berry, Susana Martinez, Michelle Lujan Grisham and U.S. Surgeon General Benjamin.

Among his numerous other achievements, he has worked in various issues such as education reform, youth civic engagement, racial inequality, working with organizations such as the New Mexico Youth Alliance, the Associated Students of the University of New Mexico, the US Department of Justice, the Democratic National Convention, PBS, and the Cities of Philadelphia and New Orleans. In 2012, he delivered the youth State of the State Address of New Mexico.

Jeff Nichol

Jeff Nichol, DVM, is a residency trained veterinary behavior specialist, as well as the author of three books, a published researcher in scientific journals and textbooks, and the weekly Pet Care columnist for the Albuquerque Journal. After years of general medicine and surgery, he has specialized in diagnosing and treating neurological disorders that manifest as behavioral symptoms in animals. He believes that even more than genetics, life experiences, or maturity, pets and their people can benefit the most from gentle leadership taught by current learning theory.

Jill Geltmaker

As the non-profit Prosperity Works explains, “Poverty in New Mexico will not be replaced by prosperity without fundamental changes”. We need changes to policy, changes in attitudes towards poverty… perhaps even changes to the definition of the employment contract?

Jill Geltmaker is a former business owner and now Vice President at Prosperity Works. She focuses on reducing barriers that make it difficult for limited-income households to acquire assets such as a home, an education, or a business that will help them enter the economic mainstream. She helps create partnerships and organizational development strategies with financial institutions, business leaders, utility companies, policymakers, families, students, and individuals to promote economic prosperity for all New Mexicans.

Kaatje Gotcha

Kaatje Gotcha, comedienne, writer, and stuntwoman-turned-Physician Assistant, found salvation in comedy and writing after being diagnosed with Adhesive Arachnoiditis, one of the most painful conditions known to humankind. Two decades prior to her 2015 diagnosis, a disease which has left her bed-bound 22 hours a day, she suffered a spinal cord injury while skydiving. Instead of giving up in the face of seemingly insurmountable tragedy, Kaatje Gotcha seized life. Her indomitable spirit and singular courage have led her to pursue a new career in storytelling through writing and stage performance.

You can find her published essays on Medium, and on September 20th she’ll be releasing her first memoir, “The Queen of Ketamine” on Amazon Kindle, where you may read her gripping tale and message of hope about a treatment that offers great promise to those who suffer from chronic pain. Her compelling message to fellow pain patients (and those who love them) is, at its core, about passion. Passion for self-advocacy, fighting for access to cutting-edge medical treatments, and to never, ever give up!

Matthew Fricke

Humanity is reaching its hands into the heavens, exploring and discovering new worlds. But those hands will not be the fleshy hands of us humans, but rather the metallic hands of robots.

Matthew Fricke is an Assistant Research Professor in the UNM Department of Computer Sciences. But even more excitingly, he also collaborates with Kennedy Space Center as the technical lead of the UNM-NASA Swarmathon project. His research focuses on solving problems using swarms, whether they be a few robots working together, a super computer with thousands of processors, an ant colony a hundred thousand strong, or the millions of immune cells. Could a swarm of robots be our extraterrestrial ambassadors? Perhaps, so Fricke says.

Pilar Sanjuan

Since graduate school, Pilar Sanjuan has been curious about the relationship between Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and the use of mind-altering substances. As an Assistant Professor of Research at the Center on Alcoholism, Substance Abuse, and Addictions and at the UNM Department of Psychology, Sanjuan is conducting research funded by the National Institute of Health, in which she uses neuroimaging and mobile assessment technologies to study various demographic groups such as veterans and pregnant women seeking treatment for opiate addiction. She believes that PTSD, stress, and substance abuse share the same provenance in many people: variations in how the individual regulates emotions. But how can this intersection help us better diagnose, treat and support these groups?

Robert Arrieta

Many know that veterans can be hit hard by the effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Yet a stigma continues to hinder many who live with PTSD, particularly those who are not in the armed forces, and this stigma can leave many living with PTSD feeling as if they are alone.

Robert Arrieta wants these people to know that they are in fact not alone. In addition to being a first responder for the past 17 years, a paramedic for the past 10, and a fellow member of the PTSD community for the past 8, two years ago he founded Skullsforhope, an awareness business that advocates for people living with PTSD and their families. Arrieta wants to raise awareness that PTSD can impact anyone regardless of their walk of life, that they can journey through their experience with PTSD at their own pace, and that a community exists to support and uplift them.

Roberta Marquez

Multi-disciplinarity is an idea that has been used in higher education to inspire students to look forward in their career paths. But what if multi-disciplinarity could be used to help youth before their academic and professional careers begin—particularly for students who have already traveled down rocky paths?

Roberta Marquez passionately believes in this power of multidisciplinarity. After earning her Master’s degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and her Juris Doctor degree from the University of New Mexico School of Law, she became passionate about helping children overcoming the negative effects of trauma, and realized that adults in all disciplines can better support these children in their journey. To this end, as an Assistant Professor at Western New Mexico University, Marquez has developed a multi-disciplinary Trauma Informed Practice (TIP) course, where she teaches hundreds of professionals across the nation how to apply TIPs to all their interactions with children and young adults overcoming trauma.