Alliyah is a dedicated nonprofit leader, administrator, and community advocate with over twenty-five years of experience. She holds a B.A. in Environmental Biology from the University of Colorado and a J.D. in Natural Resources Law from Lewis and Clark Law School. As the child of an immigrant who came to the United States seeking educational opportunities, Alliyah attributes much of her success to her father’s encouragement and the inspiring relationship she had with her high school mentor. These experiences fuel her passion for supporting and mentoring young people as they forge pathways for their own futures. In her free time, Alliyah enjoys cuddling with her furbabies, attending live music events, and exploring the great outdoors through gardening, skiing, and hiking. Sarah has more than a decade of experience empowering and uplifting the next generation. Her commitment to college access and education began while she was a student at Stephens College, where she first discovered her passion for working with youth. Since then, Sarah has supported young people in a variety of roles — most recently as Program Coordinator at the Santa Fe Teen Center and as a horseback riding instructor at a local stable. When she’s not mentoring youth, you can find Sarah exploring New Mexico’s backcountry, adventuring with her dog and horse Carolina grew up in Santa Fe and holds a B.A. in Liberal Arts from St. John’s College. As a Mexican immigrant, Carolina personally understands the obstacles that immigrant youth in our community are still facing today. This has inspired her to pursue a career helping high school students find their place and purpose. In her spare time, Carolina can be found reading, hiking, and pursuing Don Quijote. Noehmi was raised in the humid environment of Kansas City. In 2010, her family decided to relocate to Santa Fe, and she has since considered New Mexico her home. Noehmi recently completed her Bachelor of Arts degree in Speech and Hearing Sciences at The University of New Mexico. She aspires to help students make their college and career dreams a reality and to provide support to parents as their own children plan their path in life. During her leisure time, Noehmi indulges in listening to crime podcasts, reading books, or engaging in outdoor activities with her son. Summer grew up in Santa Fe, New Mexico and returned after graduating from college to give back to her community. During college, she worked as a tutor and spent her summers teaching at a local nonprofit. She graduated from the University of Chicago with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. Growing up as a first generation student, Summer often had questions relating to applying to college and was grateful for the help she received from different teachers/programs. This has inspired her to pursue a career in college access and provide support to students who are beginning to navigate a confusing and exciting time in their lives. When she is not working, summer enjoys spending time with her dogs, hanging out with her friends or going to local coffee shops.Staff
Alliyah Noor, Executive Director
alliyah@collegecareerplaza.org
Sarah Hine, Site Coordinator
Santa Fe High School
sarah@collegecareerplaza.org
Text or call 505-819-1494
Carolina Tavarez, Site Coordinator and College Access Lead
Monte del Sol Charter School
carolina@collegecareerplaza.org
Text or call 505-819-9567
Noehmi Salazar, Site Coordinator and Youth Careers Specialist
Capital High School
noehmi@collegecareerplaza.org
Text or Call 505-819-9142
Summer Romero, Site Coordinator
Santa Fe Indian School
summer@collegecareerplaza.org
Text or call 505-372-9672
Board of Directors
Jim Caponigro, President
Jim is a recently retired executive with over 25 years of nonprofit and for-profit experience, leading teams in Oakland, Atlanta, Washington DC, Dallas, Memphis, and Detroit. He has led marketing, strategic planning, public relations, advertising, data analysis, and communications for organizations such as Goodwill Industries, Project Equity, and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Jim believes in protecting the brand, strategic direction through analytics, team solutions, and working with organizations making a positive community impact. He retired after serving as President and CEO of Goodwill Industries of the Greater East Bay. He is a passionate Green Bay Packer fan, gardener, tennis player, and billiard competitor.
Amber Gallup, Vice President
Dr. Amber Gallup is the Adult Education Director at the New Mexico Higher Education Department, overseeing the statewide adult education, adult literacy, and high school equivalency systems. Under her leadership, state funding for adult education and literacy has increased more than twofold. She has spearheaded the creation of a professional learning system for adult educators and the significant expansion of a workforce training model for adult learners in the state. She serves on the New Mexico State Workforce Development Board and the board of the National Association of State Directors of Adult Education (NASDAE). Amber holds a Ph.D. in Learning Sciences from The University of New Mexico (UNM) with a research focus on registered apprenticeship design for frontline workers. Amber also holds an M.A. in TESOL and an M.A. in Hispanic linguistics, both from Indiana University.
Ted Lapres, Treasurer
Ted moved to Santa Fe in 2022 after living for over 35 years in Massachusetts with his wife Connie and three children; settling in the town Connie was raised. He was a long term executive at a multinational manufacturing firm (Nypro Inc), serving as CFO and CEO among other roles. Ted served on a number of boards in the past couple decades, including the Community Foundation of North Central Massachusetts, Groton Conservation Trust, Social Venture Partners Boston and the Museum of Russian Icons. Ted also volunteered for several years helping Bottom Line, a national non-profit whose mission is “to help first generation students get into college, graduate and get on a career path”. This work inspired him to join the College & Career Plaza board and help them continue to scale their programs.
Leah Gardner, Secretary
Leah is native New Mexican who transplanted to the West Coast in 2000 and recently returned home to the Land of Enchantment. After graduating from the University of California at Santa Cruz, where she earned dual degrees in Politics and Theatre Arts, she attended the Clown Conservatory in San Francisco. Much of her professional career has been in the arts and entertainment industry where she has worked as a director, stage manager, house manager, teacher, and events coordinator. Before leaving the Bay Area, Leah developed and launched a three-and-a-half-hour immersive theatrical event in San Francisco called, The Speakeasy. In her free time, Leah can be found cooking, hiking and playing board games with her partner, Megan. She is an avid reader and plant lover. Her perfect day would include a long hike and a delicious meal.
Diane Garcia Piro
Diane is a retired educator of with over 27 years of experience in both K-12 and higher education. During her tenure with Santa Fe Public Schools she served as the district director for career education, where she worked to create curriculum and programs from elementary through post-secondary levels. The highlight of this position was creating the first career centers at both SFHS and CHS in partnership with the Department of Workforce Solutions. She ended her career in administration as a middle school principal, where career related programming played a key role. Currently Diane is the owner of Organized Space by Diane in Santa Fe.
Lori Adcock
Dr. Lori Adcock is a retired endocrinologist. She grew up in NYC and attended NYU and Albert Einstein College of Medicine there. She began her career on Baylor College of Medicine faculty and finished her career in private practice in Midland, Texas. Lori has dedicated much of her life to community service and nonprofit leadership. She served as President of the Houston and Midland chapters of the American Diabetes Association, directed Camp Rainbow, and held two terms on the ADA’s National Board of Directors. In Santa Fe, she helped establish Santa Fe Neighbors, an elder care village supporting seniors to age in place, where she served as Vice President of the Board. Lori also served on the Las Campanas Community Fund Board, chairing its Scholarship Committee and contributing to its Grants Committee. She enjoys spending time with family, traveling, cooking, working out, and recently, playing golf.