Our Staff
Lori Martinez
Executive Director
Lori Martinez joined the Ngage New Mexico team in March 2017, initially as the Assistant Director, then becoming the Executive Director in November 2017. Before coming to Ngage she worked at NMSU for 9 years overseeing the Social Work Services program and Aggie Cupboard food pantry under Counseling and Campus Health. She previously worked in Early Intervention providing Family Therapy and Social Work services.
Lori received her Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in Social Work from NMSU. Having worked for years in Dona Ana County providing direct services, Lori became familiar with many of the challenges our county faces. She has experience working in early childhood, individuals with developmental disabilities, mental health counseling, case management, program development, hunger/food insecurity, and inpatient psychiatric services. She was drawn to Ngage because of the collective impact approach utilized by the Success partnership and is thrilled to be serving Dona Ana County with Ngage NM.
Abeer Al-Ghawi
Assistant Director
Abeer Al-Ghawi joined the Ngage New Mexico team in August 2018. Before coming to Ngage she was a stay-at-home mom for three years. Her experience in early childhood education began at the age of 18 as a Teacher’s Assistant in a Pre-K setting. Meanwhile she was pursuing her degree in International Business. In 2006, she started working for the British Council, the United Kingdom’s largest international nonprofit organization, as a librarian, and leaving as a Senior Examination Services Officer. She had a challenging and fruitful career focused on community engagement around bilateral relations, education, and literacy initiatives with partners spread across 120 countries.
Abeer left the British Council to focus on honing her skills in nonprofit and public sector management through New Mexico State University’s Public Administration program while interning for the Las Cruces Green Chamber of Commerce. Upon graduation she spent the next two years working as a clerk for the state of New Mexico’s Corrections Department.
Abeer decided to return to the arena of nonprofit work after struggling to find quality, affordable early childhood programming for her son. She was determined to help change that, and was drawn to Ngage NM because of their use of collective impact to improve the lives of children in Doña Ana County with affordable and accessible early childhood education.
Candace Cichuniec
Program and Operations Coordinator
Candace Cichuniec joined the Ngage team in 2019. As the Program and Operations Coordinator she manages the day to day operations of Ngage New Mexico and the Success Partnership while overseeing some ongoing projects like the Symbify Referral Database, our Annual Celebrity Karaoke fundraiser, and assists with grant writing.
Candace received a Bachelor’s degree in Human Development and is currently obtaining her Master’s degree in Communication Studies at Eastern New Mexico University.
She has a passion for education and believes that all students deserve equitable access to opportunities to help them thrive in life. Candace joined the Ngage team because she believes in their mission and values.
Andrea “Andy” Triviz
Family Engagement Coordinator
Andrea Triviz, also known as Andy, joined the Ngage New Mexico team in January 2023. After being assigned to help tutor a student while in kindergarten, Andy knew that the world of education was her calling. She joined every after school program possible and gained a variety of skills through those experiences, including event coordination! Those skills helped her start off with the NMSU STEM Outreach Center as a student assistant for SEMAA, then later on as the Educational Resource Coordinator, and finally here at Ngage NM as the Family Engagement Coordinator.
Andy has a Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood and another in Spanish. Certifying that she is not only bilingual, but that she is also capable of translating and interpreting between English and Spanish, and also allowing her to connect better with her community.
With a passion for education, Andy realized the importance of equitable and accessible education. Bringing in her artistic spirit and reflecting on all her past experiences, Andy hopes to bring new and creative ideas for the community.
Marisa DeWolf
Kinder-Career Coalition Coordinator
Marisa brings a background in nonprofit and education to Ngage NM and the Success Partnership, along with a lifelong dedication to meaningful work. Passionate about collective impact efforts, Marisa most recently led a local grassroots non-profit as the Executive Director, building collaborations and connections to better serve our community.
Marisa first came to live and work in Anthony, NM in 2002 as an AmeriCorps member. After her year of service, she moved to Las Cruces and began extending deep roots here, earning her Masters in Sociology from New Mexico State University and subsequently working and learning in the nonprofit sector. Marisa is proud to be the Co-Lead of the Doña Ana Resilience Leaders Parent Support Sector and an active member of her neighborhood.
The birth of her daughter and Marisa’s years spent as an educator (middle school, ELA) impressed upon her the importance of wellness in community, which has been her personal and professional focus since.
Marisa loves living in downtown Las Cruces in a 1940’s adobe home with her partner and husband, their daughter and two rescue dogs. When they’re not busy with home repairs, the DeWolfs are avid campers and cherish our shared BLM land.
Iliana Perez
Rural Early Childhood Education and Policy Coordinator
Key Partners
Sommer Mitchell
Success Partnership Communication Coordinator
Sommer Mitchell is the Communications Coordinator for the Success Partnership and has worked in multiple capacities for the collaborative since 2016. She started with an Associate of Creative Media & Technology from DACC in 2011. While receiving her bachelor’s in Communications, Marketing, and Studio Art from NMSU in 2017, Sommer served as a Graphic Design intern for Ngage New Mexico.
Over the years, Sommer has cultivated and realized a deep passion for the mission and ideals of the Success Partnership, such as “Education is a Shared Responsibility.” Striving always to include the Continuous Communications tenet of Collective Impact and pulling from her experience managing operations for Ngage’s start-up social enterprise, We Are IT, she consistently endeavors to create advancement and sustainability in the partnership’s structure and development.
Sommer has been instrumental in working toward streamlined communications processes within the Partnership’s leadership team and internally with close Backbone Partners. She has also nurtured and developed extended cross-sector partner relations throughout Doña Ana County and all three School Districts.
Erica Surova
Director of CCA at NMSU
Erica Surova is the Director and Data Analyst for the Center of Community Analysis at New Mexico State University. Through surveys, assessments, and data analysis she works to centralize, analyze, and disseminate data to the community to improve evidence-based decision making and increase collective impact. Surova created the Education Context Report for Doña Ana County, conducted a gap analysis on early childhood education for the Success Partnership, and helped develop and analyze several surveys for partners at the Las Cruces Public Schools. She has worked in education for over 17 years and has two Master’s degrees in Sociology and Geography from New Mexico State University.
Abby Ortegon
Communications and Marketing Assistant
Our Board
Cheryl Carreon
President
Rich Ferrary
Treasurer
Cindy Solis
Secretary
Gema Suggs
Board Member
Amber Romero
Board Member
Rosy Villalobos
Board Member
Miguel Cruz
Board Member
Sasha Lujan
Board Member
Ray Banegas
Board Member
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