LEADERSHIP & STAFF

PUBLIC ALLIES NEW MEXICO LEADERSHIP

Akila Ravichandran

Akila is from India and has been in this country for around 23 years. Having obtained a graduate degree in Physics from India, she completed her Master’s degree in Secondary Education and then in Special Education. It was when she started working in public schools that she found her passion to serve children and families that are underrepresented in the community and the need to hear their voices. Her association with CEC started as a graduate assistant where she got involved in the anti-racist community capacity work of CEC. She is currently working with the Public Allies program designing and delivering anti-racism-focused leadership training for Public Allies and managing the Public Allies online web-based reporting system.

Erick Hernandez

Erick (he/him) is a first-generation UNM alumnus originally from Torreon, Mexico, and raised in Deming, New Mexico. Having witnessed the power of education and the doors it has opened for him, Erick has a deep passion for education and the role that it plays in a child’s future. He is currently a teacher at a high school in ABQ, teaching amazing 9th & 10th grade students. He holds a Master’s degree in Elementary Education from UNM.

Kiran Katira

Kiran Katira is an East-African, Asian-Indian woman, born in Kenya and raised in England. She received her doctorate in  Educational Thought and Socio-Cultural Studies at the University of New Mexico. She works with local community organizers and leaders to nurture the growth and development of diverse local youth. Kiran is on the advisory board for the Institute for the Study of Race and Social Justice and was the inaugural co-chair for the Provost’s Diversity Council at UNM. She is on several governing boards, including the NM Asian Family Center, NM Dream Team and Dorn Charter Community School. She is a national trainer with the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond, where she conducts undoing racism workshops across the nation. She also teaches university courses, which focus on anti-racist education, peace and justice, and critical pedagogy in/with the community.

Vanessa Apodaca

Vanessa identifies as a Mexican-American and Chicana who was born and raised in a historic neighborhood in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She received her Master’s of Science Degree in Community Health Education from the University of New Mexico (UNM) and since 2005 has worked with New Mexico communities including her own home community in creating access to programs that address the social determinants of health. 

She currently works as a staff member with the UNM Community Engagement Center where, since 2011, she has served in various roles to facilitate leadership development opportunities with community-based projects in New Mexico. Her training in promoting racial justice is credited to her parents – Christina and Monserrate Apodaca – the staff and students at the UNM CEC, the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond, the Anti-Racist Training Institute of the South West, and many beloved community leaders, mentors, and elders in New Mexico.