Speakers

Monice Aguilar was born and raised in Albuquerque New Mexico. She graduated from the international baccalaureate program at Sandia High School and is currently pursuing a biology pre-medical degree at the University of New Mexico. Monice is a bright and outgoing student that works to improve her education and spark change in her community. One of her major passions is to give back and connect with those in her community. Since the age of 9 she has done a variety of volunteer work. During high school she found multiple outlets to volunteer her time and work with African American youth in Albuquerque. She founded an after-school program which allowed African American high school students to mentor middle school students. The goal of her work is to connect different ranges of African American youth in her community and provide them with an opportunity to communicate, educate, and build friendships with one another; something that you typically cannot gain in a classroom. Monice will always continue finding ways to share positivity and empower young students to dream bigger, listen closely, and ask more questions.

Maryam Ahranjani, JD is Don L. & Mabel F. Dickason associate professor at the University of New Mexico School of Law. An award-winning scholar, teacher, and activist, she focuses on criminal law and procedure, gender equity, constitutional rights, and education law and policy. She earned her BSEd from Northwestern University, JD from American University and LLM from the University of Pennsylvania.

Michael Baty is currently serving as the professional learning coordinator for the Black Education Act. From Albuquerque, New Mexico, Michael has spent the majority of his life actively serving the Albuquerque community through educational opportunities, mentorship, and community service. He attended Eastern New Mexico University where he attained a bachelors in music science with a minor in communicative disorders. This allowed him to begin his early teaching career in which he primarily taught k–12 special education. During this time he aligned his teaching with his masters degree program and obtained his masters degree in special education pedagogy and learning from Eastern New Mexico University.

Charles E. Becknell, Sr. is an author, experienced manager, poet and an ordained minister. He earned bachelor and master degrees in education, and a doctorate degree in American studies. He has taught in the public schools and on the college and university levels. Reverend Becknell grew up in Hobbs, a part of rural southeastern New Mexico. He obtained a basketball scholarship to the University of Albuquerque. After receiving his B.S. in education and his M.A. in secondary education, Dr. Becknell received an internship at Duke University in Durham, NC and subsequently began his doctoral studies at Columbia University in New York City and completed his studies at the University of New Mexico in 1975.

Dr. Becknell founded and directed the Afro-American Studies Program at the University of New Mexico. In 1975, he accepted a position as cabinet secretary of criminal justice for the state of New Mexico, appointed by Governor Jerry Apodaca; he was later re-appointed to this position by Governor Bruce King. He was also director of personnel services for the city of Albuquerque. Dr. Becknell formed his own company, Becknell & Associates, Inc., a training and human development company. He has given numerous workshops, seminars and speeches throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands and West Africa. Reverend Becknell was the pastor of Mt. Olive Missionary Baptist Church in Albuquerque from the late 80s through the early 90s. He has been the pastor of Emmanuel Missionary Baptist Church in Rio Rancho since 1993. Under his pastorate, Emmanuel has built three buildings and has participated in numerous activities inside and outside of the church. He retired as pastor in June, 2017. Reverend Becknell is a member of numerous civic, religious and community oriented organizations. He is currently the state president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of New Mexico and he serves on the National Board of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization founded by the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. Becknell is the dean of the Ministers Fellowship of Albuquerque & Vicinity. He is the author of four books, Black Culture in America, Blacks in the Workforce, Expressions: A Collection of Poems by Dr. Charles E. Becknell, and No Challenge – No Change. Reverend Becknell is a proponent of non-violent social change and he has devoted his life to racial conciliation. He is an advocate for children and adults who cannot speak up for themselves.

Dr. Candice Castillo currently serves as the deputy secretary of Identity, Equity, and Transformation for the New Mexico Public Education Department, where her work focuses on leading the necessary support education agencies across the state need to provide students to reach their maximum potential by removing barriers and creating opportunities to enhance their educational, social, personal, and post K-12 growth. She has statewide oversight of federal funding programs; safe and healthy schools; language and culture; the Black and Hispanic Education Acts; and student, school, and family support.

Prior to her current position, she was the executive officer of Student Support Services in the Houston Independent School District, the eighth largest district in the country, where she was responsible for districtwide oversight and strategic leadership of student support services, including Wraparound Services, Afterschool, Counseling and Socio-Emotional Learning, Student Assistance, Health and Medical Services, and Athletics and UIL programming. In addition, she led the district’s COVID-19 response, which received accolades from the U.S. Secretary of Education. During her last year with Houston ISD, she launched their telehealth services initiative in 77 schools to address students’ physical and mental health needs. Before joining Houston ISD, Dr. Castillo spent nearly two decades in the corporate world, where she worked in various industries and roles, including corporate communications for a leading global financial institution. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration, a master’s degree in global management, and a doctorate in education in ethical leadership degree.

Shafiq Chaudhary is the director of math and science on the teaching, learning, and innovations team at the New Mexico Public Education Department. He manages multiple initiatives that support the implementation of mathematics and science standards k–12, computer sciencek–8, and outdoor learning k–12.

Before joining the department, Shafiq taught middle school mathematics and science at Gallup-McKinley County Schools for eight years. He started his educational career as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Mountain Kingdom of Lesotho where he taught middle and high school mathematics and science.

Shafiq has lent his unique perspective and technical expertise to review the Call to Action for Science Education and Equity in PreK–12 STEM Education reports published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. He has also worked nationally, organizing the national Building Capacity for State Science Education conference to help state science leaders leverage free, high-quality instructional materials and related resources to advance science education.

Shafiq believes that STEM education is foundational for students to access, leading to the pursuit of college and/or career opportunities.

Jed Duggan is in his 26th year in education. He has worked with board members as a charter leader and as a central office administrator in Gadsden ISD. He designed the MLSS processes for Gadsden ISD which was recognized as a model for the state of New Mexico. Since May 2024, he has worked within the NM PED where one of his primary responsibilities is to update guidance and provide professional development to district and school leadership on the implementation of their MLSS processes.

Tim Green IV is a scholar and public servant dedicated to advancing racial equity within the city of Albuquerque (CABQ). As culture change leader, he leads initiatives to dismantle systemic and structural barriers to discrimination, fostering an inclusive culture for over 6,000 employees across 26–28 departments. With over a decade of teaching experience and degrees in political science and Africana studies, along with a Ph.D. underway in educational thought and socio-cultural studies, Tim brings deep expertise in the areas of black education, curriculum design, critical pedagogy, organizational theory, and teacher pre-service training. Outside of work, he enjoys time with his spouse and daughters, exploring art, culture, and human connection.

A charismatic and dependable instructional leader with years of experience delivering educational assistance and instruction to various levels of learners. Committed to providing teachers and students with the necessary tools to achieve academic goals, instilling a love of learning, and cooperative teamwork. Adept in the application of excellent communication, research, and problem-solving skills.

Bianca Jones is an educator, community organizer, and facilitator whose career spans over ten years in multiple grade levels at private, public, and charter schools, including work as a classroom teacher, instructional leader, and as a program manager for nonprofit organizations. She currently serves as the family and community engagement coordinator for the Black Education Act of New Mexico.

Her praxis centers developing culturally relevant practices that empower black students to understand themselves and their history, develop critical thinking and perspective-taking skills, demonstrate intellectual curiosity, and identify themselves as agents of transformation, both of themselves and their communities. Her praxis is rooted in being an educator who facilitates learning alongside students- cultivated in intergenerational spaces where youth and adults learn together, grow together, and work towards justice. She is a dedicated scholar who holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from American University. During her time in Chicago, she engaged in transformative real-world learning with diverse liberatory practitioners and movement leaders. Additionally, she is published in the Journal of Equity & Excellence in Education.

Lauretta King, business operations specialists for Black Education Act, New Mexico Public Education Department. King earned her masters in communication studies from NMSU, spring, 2024. Her primary focus was cultural communications. She is the curator of the Black Programs Collection at NMSU, Branson Library Archives, and recipient of the 2024 Walter Zakahi Community Engagement Award. King is a mother, grandmother, and great grandmother who enjoys travel and cooking. She is retired from the United States Air Force and the California Highway Patrol.

Stephanie C. Mack Ed.D, an educator, administrator, advocate, and personal support system for your elementary and special education needs. For well over 25 years, she has served students and families from the public school classrooms, prison setting, and administrative offices. Dr. Mack has also served in the non-profit early childhood sector and corporate educational delivery programs in Texas and New Mexico.

Her passion and call to service are to ensure equitable learning, providing tools and resources, and to empower students and families. She is able to assist with support to elementary campuses and district programs, as well as assess processes and make recommendations for system wide improvement. Having served in rural, urban and suburban low-income school systems, Dr. Mack brings a fresh perspective to district, campus, and individual family educational challenges.

Monique Matute-Chavarria is an assistant professor of special education at New Mexico State University (NMSU). Before obtaining her Ph.D. in special education, she worked with Nevada Early Intervention Services working with children from birth to three with disabilities. Dr. Matute-Chavarria identifies as a black mother scholar, and Afro-Latina; therefore, her research focuses on black students and families. Her research centers on the intersections of race, family, and disability. She also researches the use of hip-hop pedagogy practices (i.e., DJing) as a tool for writing with black students with and without disabilities. Dr. Matute-Chavarria was awarded the must-read award in 2022 for her article “Giving Voice to Aspirations: Engaging African American Parents With Children With Disabilities” in the Journal of Intervention in School and Clinic.

Rachel has been working in education for over 25 years, which has included positions from MS/HS science teacher and math & science department chair to an assistant principal of curriculum and instruction. Rachel earned her bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and a masters degree in endocrinology & toxicology at Northern Arizona University before moving on to earn her masters of public administration and completing her coursework for her PhD in politics and international affairs in 2015.

Rachel helped found Ponderosa High School in Flagstaff, Arizona and built a reputation for her service projects and hands-on learning. Working with at-risk youth earned her the 2008 ARSA County Teacher of the Year and State Teacher of the Year finalist. Her work with the American International School in Guatemala and other international locations has also given her the opportunity to present her research at National Conferences, and she was awarded both the Howard Hughes Medical Institute grant in 2002 and the Fulbright Scholars grant in 2009.

Rachel currently works for the state of New Mexico in the Public Education Department as the at-risk program coordinator. She works diligently to provide interventions and support to the most vulnerable students, and her considerable experience and education provides the foundation necessary to advocate for progressive programs, funding and policy changes.

Catalina Neff is with New Mexico’s Public Education Department presenting on family engagement strategies. She serves as the identity, equity, and transformation division’s family engagement liaison. Bringing over a decade of family engagement, at-risk programming, and advocacy experience, she enjoys thinking outside the box for innovative ways to help families, educators, schools, and districts looks for family engagement activities that cater to specific locations, wants, and needs. Helping the families, educators, and schools of New Mexico is Catalina’s passion and comes second only to her family.

Session: The Meaning of Powerful Partnerships and Strategies for Family Engagement

Brandi Stone works as the director at UNM African American Student Services and special advisor to the president on African American Affairs. Her passion is to assist black students in their college navigation towards graduation, specifically through intersectional identity work. Brandi is from New Mexico and received her bachelor of arts in political science and her master’s in public administration from the University of New Mexico. She is currently working on her PhD at New Mexico State in Educational Leadership. Additionally, Brandi serves as a national board member for the Association of Black Culture Centers. She is a proud member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two boys at lobo athletics games and out in the outdoors exploring New Mexico.

Sathya Sunni Costello, Diné from Tóhajiilee, New Mexico, has devoted her career to supporting the education and well-being of Indigenous students and communities. She earned her master’s degree from the University of New Mexico and has served in impactful roles, including high school assistant principal at Santa Fe Indian School and as an educator within the Navajo Nation and Pueblo communities. As the indigenous education curriculum specialist with the New Mexico Public Education Department, Sunni works to partner with educators, communities, and students to ensure that Indigenous perspectives and voices are integrated into the educational experience. She is deeply committed to fostering culturally responsive education that celebrates and uplifts the identities, histories, and experiences of indigenous students. Her work reflects a passion for providing high-quality educational opportunities that empower indigenous youth and strengthen their connections to their culture and communities.

As curriculum coordinator for the Black Education Act, Dr. Ulibarri is a passionate advocate for creating inclusive spaces where every individual’s story is heard and valued. He is dedicated to fostering well-being and belonging for all, both in education and beyond. Dr. Ulibarri holds a bachelor of music education from Eastern New Mexico University, a master of music in music education from Bowling Green State University, and a doctor of philosophy in music education from Liberty University. He is currently pursuing further studies in psychology with a concentration in applied mental health and certification in creative commons licensing.

Robert Washington-Vaughns, the founder of the Black Men Flower Project. I’ve always believed that black men deserve spaces where they can be seen, heard, and celebrated—not for their resilience alone but for their vulnerability, creativity, and tenderness. That’s the heart of why I started this project: to use something as simple, yet powerful, as flowers to acknowledge black men in ways they don’t often experience.

The idea came to me as I noticed how society rarely gives black men permission to simply “be.” We’re expected to be strong, to be providers, to carry burdens without complaint. But what if we could shift that narrative? What if black men could experience the kind of softness and care that is too often denied to us?

Dr. Henrietta Williams Pichon is educator of 30 years and her mission is “to ensure that I continue to meet the needs of the students, faculty, and staff as they seek to meet their educational, personal, and professional goals.” She is currently serving as the dean/professor in the College of Education and Human Sciences at Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, Louisiana. Prior to that, Dr. Pichon worked in several administrative positions, such as the dean/professor in the College of Education at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs; interim dean for both the College of Health, Education, and Social Transformation and the College of Education at New Mexico State University; as well as interim associate dean in the College of Education at New Mexico State University. Dr. Pichon has worked in academia since 1994. She began her career in higher education as a retention counselor at the University of New Orleans; working her way up the ranks, she became the director of several retention programs (PrepStart, College Life, and New Vision) under the enrollment management arm of academic affairs. In 2005, Dr. Pichon joined the faculty ranks at Rowan University teaching in the educational leadership doctoral degree program where she first began to engage in scholarship looking at research as a means of change; she taught research tool courses as well as courses within the higher education master’s degree program. She joined the faculty at Northwestern State University in 2007, and New Mexico State University in 2013. Dr. Pichon’s research, teaching, and practices have focused on access, development, and persistence of historically underserved individuals in higher education to include students, faculty, and staff. Her work has looked at leadership, community ecology, belonging and community development, college student development, and socio-academic integration. In addition to countless professional presentations, Dr. Pichon is the author of multiple journal articles, book chapters, and compendium selections. She also co-edited a book with a fellow LMI alumna Yoruba Mutakabbir (2018 LMI cohort) in 2022 entitled African American Leadership and Mentoring through Purpose, Preparation, and Preceptors.

Dr. Pichon has continuously sought to develop as a leader. In the last five years, she has completed a number of other professional development opportunities, such as the Chronicle’s Administrative Leadership Institute: Fostering Collaboration and Resiliency to Accelerate Change, the Harvard Institute for Management and Leadership in Education, CADREI New Dean Training, HERS Unleash Your Career, the Chronicle’s Strategic Leadership Program, as well as the AABHE Leadership and Mentoring Institute. All of these programs have contributed to her overall development as an educator and leader.

Dr. Pichon belongs to a number of professional associations to include: American Association for Blacks in Higher Education (AABHE), American Educational Research Association (AERA), Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE), Council for the Study of Community Colleges (CSCC), National Association for Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) and National Association for Student Affairs Professionals (NASAP).

She earned a B.A. in English and a M.Ed. in secondary English education from Louisiana Tech University. She earned a Ph.D. in education administration (higher education) from the University of New Orleans.

Kimberly currently oversees the Black Education Bureau for the New Mexico Public Education Department. She is a doctoral candidate at Grand Canyon University, completing a Ph.D. in psychology with an emphasis in organizational psychology. Her dissertation focuses on perceived organizational support and occupational burnout. She is an independent licensed clinical social worker (mental health therapist) with over 25 years of blended experience in organizational leadership, youth development, training facilitation, and racial and social justice. She excels in education and community-based development, strategic planning, and systemic transformation. Her clinical competencies include resiliency-based mental health assessments, treatment planning, and conducting individual and group therapy with children, youth, and families.

As a servant leader, Kimberly has a proven record of commitment to service. She was appointed by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham to the New Mexico Racial Justice Council and elected as the diversity coordinator of Las Cruces Chapter of the American Association of University Women (AAUW). She previously held additional community leadership roles as the 2nd vice president of Dona Ana County NAACP (Education Chair) and a member of the Executive Committee of the State of New Mexico Office of African American Affairs. She has provided consulting services to many organizations including Las Cruces Public Schools, United Way of Southwest New Mexico, Ngage New Mexico, La Casa, and more.

Kimberly holds a bachelor of social work from Capital University. She earned a masters of social administration and a masters of nonprofit organizations (specialization in nonprofit management) from Case Western Reserve University (CWRU). Additionally, Kimberly is an alum of the Treu – Mart Resiliency and Youth Development Fellowship at CWRU’s Mandel Center for Non-Profit Organizations. Her international experience includes organizational and youth development in Bangladesh and the Netherlands. Kimberly holds independent clinical social work license (with supervision designation), non-profit management certification, advanced mediation certification, and No Bullies, No Victims trainer. She is a trust-based relational intervention (TBRI) practitioner, national trainer of Nurturing Parenting, and Circle of Security. She is most proud to be a national resiliency trainer and has completed national character education training by the Josephson Institute on Ethics. She is a member of the Phi Alpha National Social Work Honor Society and the Alpha Sigma Lambda Honor Society for Adult Learners.