The Rural CTE Alliance

The Rural CTE (Career & Technical Education) Alliance for our future workforce held a think tank event at Northern New Mexico College on Thursday, June 12, 2025. The Rural CTE Alliance is a collaborative effort to address the unique challenges and opportunities in Career and Technical Education for rural communities. Dr. Kurt Steinhaus, former Secretary of the New Mexico Public Education Department (NMPED) served as master of ceremonies. He stressed that the focus of the think tank was on the stakeholders and that the goal was to learn more about their needs and gather their ideas.  

 Several dignitaries and leaders from education, government, and industry attended, including: 

• Senator Benny Shendo, Jr.  
• Senator Leo Jaramillo 
• Representative Susan Herrera 
• Representative Anita Gonzales 
• Sara Boses, aide to Rep. Matthew McQueen 
• Anita Pacheco, Field Representative for Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernández 
  
  

The day began with powerful opening remarks from President Hector Balderas, who told the gathering, “Northern’s life mission is intertwined with all the work that you amazingly do on the frontlines every day. You truly are saving lives when you choose to do the work that you do in this region. You are change agents and amazing leaders.” 

Balderas posed one of the central questions the Alliance was there to address, “How do we champion this report and get the legislature to invest in what I think are going to be game changing opportunities for education and opportunity in the state for our families?” He used an example from the trades program on Northern’s El Rito campus to illustrate how CTE can impact local communities. Staff worked with at-risk youth to clean up a drug house, teaching them skills such as electrical and HVAC to transform the house. “When you can come together, educate our kids but also transform our kids into young leaders, then we can also be the solution to so many other problems.” 

Dr. Gwen Perea Warniment, President and CEO of the LANL Foundation described the gathering as both a celebration and a reflection of the hard work ahead. “This community exists in celebration,” she said, “despite a lack of resources, there is beauty in its people and purpose.” 

Felix Garcia, NMPED Community Schools and Extended Learning Bureau Director and a powerful advocate for rural CTE, emphasized the importance of creativity and community-driven solutions: “We need to stop feeling sorry and start being innovative.” He shared how the CTA was launched in January to bring together a diverse coalition of educators, policymakers, and students with a unified mission.  

David Chavez, Executive Director of Cooperative Educational Services, outlined the objectives of the Think Tank, emphasizing collaboration among industry, higher ed, government, and community partners to ensure equitable, sustainable CTE pathways. 

Breezy Gutierrez, Director of the NMPED College and Career Readiness Bureau, stressed that “CTE is about preparing people for careers, not just jobs.” Her presentation stressed how strong CTE programs lead to greater levels of engagement in education, significantly higher graduation rates and higher levels of employment upon graduation. She walked attendees through the CTE framework, funding mechanisms, and implementation strategies to drive economic mobility and opportunity in underserved communities, stressing that these are structured programs that align industry standards with an integrated curriculum.  

Marco Martinez, Deputy Director of New Mexico Workforce Solutions, reinforced the state’s mission to connect educators and employers through collaborative efforts that strengthen the workforce pipeline. He stressed the importance of keeping New Mexico students in New Mexico and the need for better communication between all work-based earning and internship programs and more paid work-based learning and internship program options. 

Representatives from Pojoaque Valley Schools, Jemez Valley Schools and Santa Rosa Consolidated School District shared success stories and explored innovative solutions in CTE delivery. 

Stakeholders then broke into seven collaborative working groups based on their roles: administration, higher ed, businesses/national labs, agencies/foundations, students/parents, legislators, and educators. These sessions sparked rich dialogue and action planning. 

A highlight of the day was the Student Panel, featuring bright young voices from across the state, including Santa Rosa High School students Lena Baca, Gianna Campos and Estrella Martinez and Coronado High School students Eli Martinez, Moshen Morfin and Annalise Garcia. These students really brought home the impact CTE programs have on students’ lives. Internships had helped students discover careers they were passionate about. All six raised their hands when asked if CTE classes made them want to go to school, which included students who had been planning to drop out of school before becoming involved in CTE.   

The conference concluded with a report-out from breakout sessions and a roadmap for future action. Key deliverables included a comprehensive conference report, action plans and policy briefs, a network directory of attendees and follow-up webinars and workshops 

In his closing remarks, President Balderas thanked participants and reinforced the importance of embedding conference insights into a strategic vision for rural CTE transformation in New Mexico.