VITA
W. Azul La Luz B.
Program Specialist
UNM Vice President Office of Equity and Inclusion, Assisted with oversight of four ethnic student centers – African
American Student Services, Native American Student Services, and El Centro de la Raza – and the EEO office, as well as
with recruitment and retention of student, faculty, and staff or color. Also in charge of annual fundraising event
NIDA Diversity Supplement Fellow
American Sociological Association / NIMH Minority Fellow
NIMH Minority Education Program Mentee
National Hispanic Science Network on drug abuse / NIDA Fellow
Southwest Alcohol Research Mentee / NIAAA
15 years Upper Level Management Experience:
CEO, COO, Executive VP, Assistant Controller, Executive Director
EDUCATION
Ph.D.
Sociology. Concentrations in Medical Sociology and Race & Ethnicity. University of New Mexico,
Albuquerque, NM, 2000 - 2009.
Dissertation Title
Hispanos in the Valley of Death: Street-Level Trauma, Cultural-PTSD,
Overdose, and Suicides in north central New Mexico
M. A.
Sociology – Race & Ethnicity and Gender. Western Illinois University, Macomb, IL, 1995 - 1997
Thesis
Latinas’ Disproportionate Representation in United States Prisons: A Culture of
Protectiveness. Demonstrated a contradictory link between high risk factors for
incarceration and disproportionately low numbers of Latinas in United States prisons
which indicated a cultural correlation as mediator.
M. A.
Geography – Urban & Regional Planning and Human Geography. Western Illinois University, 1996 1998.
Thesis
Public Administration As Represented By City and County Governments. Emphasis on
the landscape of professional management in public administration; its current practices
and future development.
B. A.
Board of Governor; concentrations: Administration, Family and Consumer Sciences, and Psychology 1995
- 1996. Western Illinois University.
TRAINING AND CERTIFICATES
INSTITUTES:
$
National Hispanic Science Network, Summer Research Training Institute on Hispanic Drug Abuse,
NIDA/University of Houston.
$
National Institute of Mental Health Mentorship and Program Training Institute, NIMH/UNM.
$
Southwest Alcohol Research Group, NIAAA/UNM
$
Ethics In Human Research, Fourth Annual Symposium, UNM Health Sciences Center
$
Albuquerque Demographic Analysis Workshop: Using the Census to Better Understand Changing People and
`
Places
CERTIFICATES
$
Mysteries of Payroll, Northern New Mexico College, Española, NM
$
Bilateral Effects of NAFTA On Mexico and the United State, Universidad Autonómica De Querétaro, Facultad
de Contaduria y Administración, Querétaro, México
$
Contracting for Performance, National Alliance of Business, Lincoln, NE.
$
Employment and Economic Development, National Alliance of Business, Lincoln, NE
$
Basic Risk Management and Insurance, Public Risk Management Associations, Washington, D.C.
Page 2 of 8
EMPLOYMENT EXPERIENCE
Program Specialist:
At UNM Los Alamos I worked on distance-learning classes, assisting other professors and
students access their classes, recorded classes, and proctored examinations.
Director of Development and Planning: I am in charge of developing a 12.5 acre parcel in Abiquiu, NM, for the benefit
of a large Service Area (from Gallina to El Rito, to Mendanales), the first step of which was to create a Women’s
Cooperative – Lower Rio Chama Women’s Cooperative -- and a youth center, along with for-profit business ventures to
assist the Cooperative become self-sustaining.
Instructor:
I have taught university level courses for more than ten (10) years at these locations: the University of New
Mexico (Albuquerque), New Mexico State University (Las Cruces), Carl Sandburg Community College (Galesburg, IL), and
Spoon River Community College (Macomb, IL).
Classes included:
Distance Learning/Extended University (UNM):
Introduction to Sociology
Social Problems
Causes of Crime & Delinquency
Sociology of Mass Communication
Urban Community
Sociology of Religion
(Soc 101C)
(Soc 211C)
(Soc 312C)
(Soc 335C)
(Soc 351C)
(Soc 422C)
Sociology:
Medical Sociology, Sociology of Medical Practices, Marriage and Family, Dynamics of Prejudice,
Social Problems, Causes of Crime; Crime and Society, Deviance, Social Control, Introduction to
Sociology;
Government:
American National Government. Political Research Methods
Computers:
Computer hardware operations, Introduction to Computers, Keyboarding, Software application – dBase,
NOVELL, Lotus 123, Excel, MS Word, Word Perfect, and Windows (have 20 years cumulative experience
in most aspects of computer operations, including: Servers and personal computers – Widows NT, Novell,
Windows, Data processing and manipulation software – NVivo, SPSS, Lotus 1-2-3, Corel WordPerfect,
Microsoft Word and Excel, Quattro Pro, Use of the Internet as a research and fund raising tool).
Executive Director:
As chief executive officer I managed the aspects and affairs of Las Cumbres Community Services
(LCCS), which has approximately 200 employees. Under the directions of the Board of Directors, I directly administered a
budget of more than $5,000,000, a capital campaign and trust fund of more than $1,400,000, and I directly supervised ten
department heads. LCCS is a private, 501(c) (3) corporation that promotes the health and well-being of people of all ages in
northern New Mexico. The corporation’s direct services were offered primarily in Rio Arriba, Los Alamos and Santa Fe
Counties, along with statewide training, education, outreach and referral activities.
Executive Management:
As an upper-level executive in the private and public sectors for more than 15 years (in
the positions of Assistant Comptroller, Chief Operations Officer, City / County Manager, Executive Vice President, and
Executive Director), I managed annual budgets of $225,000 to $27,000,000, directly supervised more than 17 department
heads, and had direct management responsibility for workforces of 100 to 450 full time equivalent employees. The major
duties and responsibilities of these positions were:
$
Bid specification development, and implementation, contract administration, and monitoring
$
Budget and finance development, automation, and administration
$
Comprehensive, strategic and tactical planning
$
Computer department management and operations
$
Grant writing, lobbying, administration, and program evaluation
$
Regenerative funding development, privatization and program monitoring
$
Risk Management
$
Community/governmental liaison
Page 3 of 8
$
$
Infrastructure planning and administration
Community economic development
Principal Consultant:
I owned and operated a private consulting firm, NuevaLight Enterprises. I provided management
and computer related consulting services to businesses, governments, and non-profits organizations. Our services were as
management generalists providing solutions for fund raising, staff training, automated budgeting, data processing including
systems analysis and installation, business, financial and strategic planning, personnel surveys, and risk management
(including risk auditing and transfer assessment). My diverse background, both occupationally and culturally made me
uniquely qualified to provide creative solutions on a wide range of management issues, with particular emphasis on minority
business development. My New Mexico projects included:
$
Production of “Mi Nombre es Alícia” (My Name Is Alice), a DWI prevention Video sponsored by Doña Ana
County, NM.
$
Management and organizational assistance to the International Mariachi Conference, Las Cruces, New Mexico
$
Tax and computer assistance to City of Las Cruces, NM, Sesquicentennial Celebration, assistance to the Cultural
Society of the Mesilla Valley, the corporation formed to coordinate all the events for the sesquicentennial
celebration
$
Installation of NT Servers and Network for Stahmann Farms, Las Cruces, NM.
$
Upgrade and technical assistance to Western Blends, a Solopek Farm subsidiary, Las Cruces, New Mexico
$
Management consultant on growth related issues to Del Valle Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Service, Las
Cruces, NM.
AWARDS, CONTRACTS, and HONORS
Awards and Contracts
$
Tres Semillas Foundation, Abiquiu, NM, Consulting Contract, 2009
$
University of New Mexico, College of Arts and Sciences, Dean’s Dissertation Fellowship, 2006
$
National Institute on Drug Abuse University of Houston, Diversity Supplement, 2005
$
National Institute on Mental Health, American Sociological Association Minority Fellowship Program; 2003 – 2005
$
University of New Mexico Graduate Office Dean’s Scholarship, 2001 – 2005
$
Intravenous Drug Using Treatment Contractors of New Mexico, Region 2 Behavioral Health Programs Contract
Award, 2003 – 2004
$
Epidemiology and Cancer Prevention Program, Cancer Research and Treatment Center at the University of New
Mexico Medical School, Contract Award, 2003
$
University of New Mexico Graduate Research Program Research Grant, 2002–2005
$
National Hispanic Science Network Annual Conference Student Researcher Scholarship, 2003, 2005, 2006
$
Rio Arriba Family Care Network Research Printing Grant, 2003
$
National Institutes on Drug Abuse NHSN Summer Training Grant, 2003
$
Drug Policy Alliance National Conference Attendance Scholarship, 2002
$
Dolores Gonzales Colloquium Award, 2002
$
Doña Ana County, Grant DWI prevention Spanish/ English video: Mi Nombre es Alicia, My name is Alice, 1999
Honors
$
$
$
$
Alpha Kappa Delta, National Sociology Honor Society
Phi Kappa Phi, National Honor Society
Gamma Theta Upsilon, National Geographic Honor Society
Nominated for “Del Colores” A National Raza Community Services Award, 2005
RESEARCH AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANT
University of New Mexico Medical School, Pulmonary Department: Interviewing non-small cell lung cancer patients
after initial diagnosis, for the purpose of determining concerns about access to treatment and treatment alternatives.
University of New Mexico Medical School, Program Evaluation, Education and Research Department: I assisted this
program at the University of New Mexico Medical School, by providing evaluation of the Central New Mexico Community
Page 4 of 8
Access Program (CAP-NM). This program goal was 100% access for all uninsured persons in Central New Mexico to a
primary care home. CAP-NM evaluation measured health outcomes of the uninsured population served. The goal of the
program was to improve Health Status through collaboration and integration amongst the seven safety net provider systems
in a four-county target area. Particular attention was focused on reducing health disparities among vulnerable populations in
these counties. The target population was the estimated 125,000 rural and urban uninsured and under-insured individuals
(approximately 56,000 Hispanic, 50,000 Anglo, 13,000 Native American, and 6,000 Vietnamese, African-American, and
other) in central New Mexico’s four-counties with incomes below 235 percent of the poverty level.
University of New Mexico Medical School, Department of Family and Community Medicine: I conducted ethnographic
field research on treatment seeking behavior of drug addicts in Rio Arriba County, NM. The research was funded by the New
Mexico State Department of Health and the Drug Policy Board.
University of New Mexico Medical School, Department of Family and Community Medicine:Conducted interviews with
Spanish speaking patients, using a pre-validated instrument, PIME-MD, at a local area clinic to determine incidence of
undetected depression and suicide ideation in primary care settings.
University Of New Mexico, Office of the Deputy Vice Provost for Research: I conducted research in preparation for
various grant projects, including a grant application to the National Foundation of Science for a Learning Center.
University Of New Mexico, Southwestern Hispanic Research Institute:
I performed research concerning New
Mexico Land Grants that were originally granted by the Spanish and Mexican governments, between 1600 and 1835, to
settlers of the northern most provinces of Mexico, which are now part of the United States. The research culminated in
presenting an original research paper on the Cebolleta land grant at the Who Owns America Conference III, held at the
University of Wisconsin’s Land Tenure Center in Madison, WI.
Western Illinois University, Student Residential Services Department
For three years during the completion of two masters’ degrees, I provided training and technical assistance related to
computers and computer programs for the staff and students of the Department, which included Student Residential Program
Administration, Student Residential Program Conference Center, Student Residential Programs Graduate and Family
Housing, and Student Residential Programs Resident Halls. I maintained computers from the motherboards up, and
including the Novell networks LANS, and interface with the Universities mainframes. I assisted in developing and
implementing the University’s first electronic student identification system.
RESEARCH PROJECTS and INTEREST
Rio Grande Community Development Corporation:
Conducting a series of eight focus groups to collect data
(leading to town hall meetings), specifically looking at how crime and other external environmental conditions – gangs, poor
lighting disorganizational industrial areas proximity to residences – are affecting health disparities in the South Valley of
Albuquerque.
Hispanic Heroin Users, Transition to Injecting and HIV: I was awarded a National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
Diversity Supplement Research Grant which is attached to a funded RO1 out of the University of Houston in Texas. My
principal role was to perform statistical and qualitative analysis on the data set already collected by the PI and his team. The
abstract of the parent grant is as follows: The rapid growth of non-injecting heroin use (NIU) has serious consequences for
controlling injecting drug use (IDU), the spread of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and other blood-borne pathogens,
since IDU is a major source of illness and death among drug users, especially among US racial and ethnic groups. Mexican
Americans are experiencing this increase among a drug using population that has consistently been characterized by high
rates of drug injecting and AIDS risk behavior. In this study, we propose to examine the roles of social networks by using a
"network facilitation" approach and cultural and contextual variables associated with transitioning from NIU of heroin to
injecting, and in the transmission of HIV, HBV, and HCV among a sample of NIU Mexican American heroin users in San
Antonio, Texas. Social networks may facilitate the process that determines the extent to which an individual who is
susceptible for transitions to injecting or for seroconverting transitions to injecting and becomes infected.
Dying for "La Cura": Searching for a Cure to the Heroin Overdose Death Epidemic In Northern New Mexico:
Dissertation project, a qualitative/quantitative research study in which I examined ten years of medical examiner
data on illicit drug overdoses and suicide in Northern Central New Mexico which has the highest rate of drug overdoses per
capita, of any region in the United States. Also used in this study are 49 in depth qualitative interviews I collected in the
Page 5 of 8
studies listed below. Many contradictory factors in the region lend themselves to the historical materialistic analysis that
because of street-level historical trauma, a type of communal post traumatic stress disorder, the majority of illicit drug
overdose death may actually be suicide.
Why Are they Dying: Research Project on Española Drug Addiction and Overdoses:
I was the principal
investigator (PI) on a project that was funded by a University of New Mexico (UNM) Graduate Research Development
Grant, a UNM Graduate Research Project and Travel Grant, and a Rio Arriba Family Care Network Grant. The research
examined two aspects of the heroin addiction and overdoses in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico; a county that has the
highest per capita rate of both heroin addiction and overdoses of any region in the United States. We examined ten years of
coroner’s reports on drug overdoses in Rio Arriba and Santa Fe counties to determine poly-drug intake, as well as the
possibility that the deaths classified as accidental drug overdoses may actually be suicides.
Drug Users’ Access to and Use of Treatment Services: Ethnographic Research:
This research project, funded by
New Mexico Department of Health and the Health Policy Commission, provided ethnographic examination of treatmentseeking behaviors of illicit drug users in Rio Arriba County, NM. This led to in-depth description, analysis and policy
recommendations to optimize drug users’ access to, and use of treatment services. The ethnographic research included indepth, semi-structured interviews with key informants and observations in the field. PI was Cathleen Willging, Ph.D.
Epidemiological Contradiction in Latinas’ Mental and Physical Health Outcomes:
I used statistical analysis
(logistic regression, principal components analysis) on a large National data set to examine the Epidemiological Paradox
(EP) in the Latina populations. My basic premise was that Latinas should be at similar, or greater, risk of poor mental and
physical health outcomes as are other minority women in the United States. However, Latinas appear to exhibit mental and
physical health outcomes similar to, and in some cases better than European-American women. In particular, Latinas should
evidence the same, or similar, outcomes as Afro-American women since Latinas have similar or lower socioeconomic status
as Afro-American women, and ethnicities share similar settlement patterns.
I am also exploring a newly created hypotheses based on historical materialism and collective medicine
methodologies. This new hypothesis looks at the collective meaning of community status amongst Latinas vis á vis the EP,
particularly in ethnic enclaves and non-acculturated life situations. Viewed from the Latinas’ communal status perspective
the EP may prove to be a moot point.
Homeless Women Project:
The specific research aims of this research project were to guide homeless women in a
self-directed approach facilitated by women for women. Homeless women designed interventions that assisted them in
permanently escaping the cycle of poverty. The project was based on extensive research done by the Chair of the Department
of Sociology at the University of New Mexico, Susan Tiano, Ph.D.
PUBLICATIONS
Hispanos in the Valley of Death: Street-Level Trauma, Overdoses, and Suicides in north central New Mexico. November
2009. W. Azul La Luz Baez; Also proposed book based on Dissertation.
Addiction, Death, and Economic Development in Northern New Mexico: The Growth of a Lumpen Proletariat Economy.
2005. W. Azul La Luz.
The Possible Causes of the Overdose Epidemic in Northern New Mexico: Examination of Six Years of Medical Examiner’s
Data. W. Azul La Luz and J. Meredith Martin. 2005.
“Ethnography of Drug Use and Barriers to Care in the Española Valley of New Mexico.” Willging, Cathleen E., Michael
Trujillo, and W. Azul La Luz. 2005. Drug Abuse Patterns and Trends in New Mexico: Proceedings of the New Mexico
State Epidemiology Work Group. September 2004. New Mexico Department of Health.
“Ethnography of Drug Use and Barriers to Care in the Española Valley of New Mexico.” Willging, Cathleen E., Michael
Trujillo, and W. Azul La Luz. New Mexico Epidemiology Report, 2004 (5):1-3.
“Drug Abuse Patterns and Trends in New Mexico.” W. Azul La Luz. 2004.
Work Group, August 2003; , 140 – 149. NIMH, NIDA.
Proceedings of the Boarder Epidemiology
Ethnography of Drug Use, Help-Seeking Processes, and Behavioral Health Care Needs. Willging, Cathleen E., Michael
Trujillo, and W. Azul La Luz. 2003. Report submitted to the State of New Mexico Department of Health, June 2003.
Page 6 of 8
“Successful Pregnancies Outcomes: Evidence of the Epidemiological Paradox in Latinas.”
Southwest Working Paper Series, 2002, Volume 1, 14 – 33.
W. Azul La Luz.
2002.
BOOK &ARTICLE REVIEWS
CHIVA: A Village Takes On The Global Heroin Trade. Chellis Glendinning. 2005. New Society Publishers. Reviewed
comments were incorporated into the book’s preface and the back cover. 2004.
In Conflict and Order: Understanding Society, tenth edition. D. Stanley Eitzen and Maxine Baca Sinn. Review contribution
is cited in the “Acknowledgments.” 2004.
“The Everyday Violence of Hepatitis C Among Young Women Who Inject Drugs In San Francisco” by Philippe Bourgois,
Bridget Prince, and Andrew Moss. 2004.
PRESENTATIONS
“Experiential Learning” New Mexico Men’s Council for Boys and Young Men Annual Conference. 2009
“Addiction, Death, and Economic Development in Northern New Mexico: Addiction The Growth of a ‘Landed’ Lumpen
Proletariat.” University of New Mexico Graduate and Professional Student Symposium. 2007.
“Estando en la Lucha: Structural Challenges of Long Term Recovery.” Nelson Tiburcio,, Ulises Ricoy, W. Azul La Luz.
National Hispanic Science Network. 2006.
“Addiction, Death, and Economic Development in Northern New Mexico: The Growth of a Lumpen Proletariat Economy.”
W. Azul La Luz B. Poster at NHSN. 2005.
“Addiction, Death, and Economic Development in Northern New Mexico: The Growth of a Lumpen Proletariat Economy.”
W. Azul La Luz B. Roundtable at ASA Annual conference. 2005.
“Successful Pregnancy Outcomes: Evidence of the Epidemiological Paradox in Latinas.” W. Azul La Luz. Poster at
Research Society on Alcoholism annual conference, 2005.
“Using Ethnography to Recruit Alcohol-dependent Participants in Clinical Trials.” W. Azul La Luz B. and Ethel Nicdao.
Poster at Research Society on Alcoholism annual conference, 2005.
“HIV/AIDS in El Grito County, New Mexico: An Epidemiological Paradox?” W. Azul La Luz. Annual Conference of the
American Sociological Association. 2004.
“Successful Pregnancies Outcomes: Evidence of the Epidemiological Paradox in Latinas.” W. Azul La Luz. ASA Annual
meeting. 2003.
“Drug Abuse Patterns and Trends in New Mexico.” W. Azul La Luz. NIMH, NIDA, Border Epidemiology Work Group
meeting in San Diego, CA, September 2003
“Successful Pregnancies Outcomes: Evidence of the Epidemiological Paradox in Latinas.” W. Azul La Luz. Dolores
Gonzales Colloquium at University of New Mexico. 2002.
“Drug Abuse Patterns and Trends in New Mexico.”
meeting, Tucson, Arizona. 2002.
W. Azul La Luz. NIMH, NIDA, Boarder Epidemiology Work Group
The Cebolleta Land Grant, Cebolleta, New Mexico. W. Azul La Luz. Who Owns America Conference III, University of
Wisconsin’s Land Tenure Center in Madison, WI. 2001.
Page 7 of 8
SERVICE








Charter Board Member of New Mexico Council for Boys and Young Men
Treasurer to Sociology Graduate Student Association (SGSA), University of New Mexico (UNM).
SGSA Representative to the Faculty Department Committee, UNM Sociology Department.
Graduate Student Representative at UNM: Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society
Advisor to Student Chapter of Amnesty International, New Mexico State University
Advisory Board Member to Alma De Amistad, an intervention program that assists women who are predominately
drug addicts, at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS, and their families, with case management, counseling and referral to
housing in Albuquerque, NM.
Advisor to the New Mexico Community Health Workers Association, Inc, a state-wide organization made up of
mostly bilingual Promotoras (health care workers). I did the incorporation, and Internal Revenue Service filings pro
bono. I also conducted a program development, and planning retreat for the association.
Advisor to the Albuquerque Trumbull Neighborhood Resident Council, an organization created by homeless and
low income women to protect their neighborhood from drug dealers, and to teach young people drug prevention
AFFILIATIONS
Current Professional Affiliations
 Association of Borderland Studies
 American Sociological Association
Section membership:
Medical Sociology, Soc of Mental Health, Latino/a Sociology,
Alcohol, Drugs & Tobacco, Race, Class, & Gender,
 International Hypnosis Federation
 National Guild of Hypnotist
 National Hispanic Science Network on drug abuse
Former Professional Affiliations
 American Society for Public Administration
 Illinois City and County Managers Association
 Illinois County Administrators Association
 International City/County Management Association
 International City/County Management Association Hispanic Network
 Iowa City Management Association
 Iowa/Illinois County Administrators Association
 Inner City Development Consortium of Lincoln
 Lincoln Employers United, Subcommittee on Minority Special Events
 Lincoln Personnel Management Association
 National Council of La Raza
 New Mexico State University Master in Public Administration Advisory Board
 New Mexico State University Hispanic Faculty and Professional Staff Caucus
 United States / Mexico Border Epidemiology Work Group
FORMER ADVISORY BOARD











Casa Latina of Lincoln, Nebraska (Charter Member)
Chicano Federation of San Diego County, Northern Division, San Marcos
Diversity Institute, Albuquerque, NM
Economic Development Corporation
Escondido Youth Encounter, Escondido, CA
Farm Worker Health Demonstration Project Advisory Committee
House of Sustaining Creation, Albuquerque, NM Iowa Area Agency on Aging , Des Moines,
Iowa/Illinois County Administrators Association
Lincoln Employers United, Subcommittee on Minority Special Events, Lincoln, NE
Lincoln-Lancaster Indian Center Employment Development Board, Lincoln, NE
Lincoln/Lancaster Private Industry Council, Lincoln, NE
Page 8 of 8





















Mexico State University Hispanic Caucus, Las Cruces
Minority Business Development Association
Minority Economic Development Board, Sioux City, IA
Nebraska Offenders Assistance Program, Lincoln, NE
Nebraska Refugee Assistance Task Force Operation SER, Migrant Workers Assistant Program
New Mexico Motorcycle Safety Board, Santa Fe, NM
Northern Illinois Area Agency on Aging, Morrison, IL
Northern San Diego County Social Service Advisory Board, San Diego, CA
Project JOVE, Ex-offender Assistance Program, San Diego, CA
Project OZ, Run-Away-Youth Program, San Diego, CA
Proteus, Migrant Worker's Assistance Program, Sioux City, IA
San Diego County Community Action Board, CA
Sioux City Arts Council
Sioux City Board Of Education, Equity Advisory Board, Sioux City, IA
Sioux City Junior League Community Advisory Council
Siouxland Economic Development Council
Siouxland Energy Conservation Finance Authority
Siouxland Regional Marketing Council
Sterling/RockFalls Latin American Social Club Sterling/RockFalls Fall Fiesta, Inc., IL
Volunteers in Probation, Morrison, IL Iowa Spanish Speaking Peoples Commission, Des Moines
Woodbury County Public Health Board, Sioux City, IA
Outstanding Service Awards














Education Equity Office, Iowa
Cal-Neva Executive Directors and Board Chairpersons Association
Chicano Federation of San Diego County
Kiwanis Club, Sioux City, Iowa
Kiwanis Club, Onawa, Iowa
Kiwanis Club, Sioux City, Iowa
Listed in "Who's Who in Local Government Management"
Listed in "Who's Who in the Midwest"
Lions Club International
Mexican Awareness Through Association, Nebraska
Project JOVE, San Diego California
United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census
Saint Luke's Gordon Recovery Centers, Minority Outreach Program, Sioux City, Iowa
San Diego Community Action Board
OTHER SKILLS
LANGUAGE AND CULTURE
I read, speak and write Spanish fluently. I have studied Spanish at an undergraduate and graduate level, as well as studied in
Mexico. I have professionally translated manuscripts and other documents into Spanish from English. I have traveled
extensively throughout Mexico and the rest of Latin America. I draw, paint and have written fiction and non-fictions stories
and articles. As an administrator, I wrote a number of editorials and economic development pieces that were in the popular
press.