Andrea Plaza
Master of Community and Regional Planning/Master of Latin American Studies, 2005

How you describe who you are and the work you do?

I am a 29-year resident of New Mexico with roots in Colombia by way of North Carolina. I am a CRP and Latin American Studies graduate from 1995 and have focused my career on economic development opportunities for Latin women and immigrants. I am the founding director of Encuentro, a community-based nonprofit with a mission to transform New Mexico into a thriving community for all of its residents by engaging with Latino immigrant families in educational and career development opportunities that build skills for economic and social justice. As part of its offerings, Encuentro provides a comprehensive Home Health Aide program tailored to the needs and experiences of Latinx immigrants as they relate to educational training, economic opportunity and leadership development.

What are your responsibilities in your position and what are you working on now?

I am in the middle of a new responsibility now, the organization decided to purchase a building, so I am kind of learning what it means to purchase a building. The procurement process entails I work with Architects, Bankers, my board of directors, lawyers and the staff. I try to listen to my staff and find out what they need and make sure the building is a reflection of what they need. This project involves that I identify with these experts and engage them in this project. It has really been a tasking and challenging one filled with lots of work. Interestingly, I am happy because we have gotten one now.

What makes your work personally rewarding and How has your work impacted you and your community?

I never envisioned myself ever starting an organization and the role of an executive director is a constant learning process which I appreciate although sometimes can feel overwhelming not every day though. It is a type of learning I feel I can always share with the community and partner organizations. It is a learning for my community and is exciting. It always keeps me on my toes and very rewarding too. I keep building skills I can turn around and invest in communities. We have impacted communities; I am part of an organization that has created a team and have included community members in it and I feel that the collective work we are doing have impacted the communities.

How has the CRP program prepared you for your career?

The CRP program taught me to look at the world in a different way. It taught me to listen more and hear what the community has to say and listen to what the community wants as well as what they need at every point in time. The program with its various courses and approach thought me to look at communities from the community land aspect and that communities has a lot to offer that it is our job as planners to discover that, invest in that and elevate it. It gave me skills, basic skills I use all the time in my everyday practice as a planner. Skills like evaluation, facilitations, planning, ways to think about things as well as ways to engage other people’s thinking too. The CRP program helped me to think about things in a way I can practice it. It is more practical than theoretical. Another thing I also get to appreciate from studying this program and practicing here In New Mexico, is that on daily basis, I run into other graduates from the CRP program in UNM and many of us continue to work together and that makes me feel so proud of the school and program seeing that we are all doing great work in New Mexico. I want to say a big thank you to the department and appreciate them greatly.