Saturday September 17
Yuriria Morales
Executive Director, Global Ties ABQ
Ernie C’deBaca
President and CEO, Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of CommerceErnie C’deBaca is President and CEO of the Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce (Hispano Chamber). Ernie began in that capacity in June 2017 having served prior as the Vice President of Conventions and Tourism for the chamber. Ernie retired from PNM Resources in January 2016 having worked there for 38 years and serving the past 20 years as its Vice President of Governmental Affairs. Under his leadership, PNM collaborated with various entities, some adversarial, to develop legislation resulting in the Renewable Portfolio Standard and Energy Efficiency laws, among other legislation, that many states have since adopted.
Ernie was also a long-serving Board Member at the Chamber and was its chair in 2006. In his current capacity, Ernie leads the Hispano Chamber which is one of the largest chambers in New Mexico and one of the largest Hispanic Chambers in the United States. The mission of the chamber is to promote economic development, to enhance economic opportunities and to provide business and workforce education with an emphasis on the Hispanic and Small Business Community in Albuquerque and New Mexico.
Katherine Brown, Ph.D.
President & CEO of Global Ties U.S.
Curt “C.J.” Chavez
Morning Motivation
Abigail Olvera
Women Diplomats Panel
Lisa Ellis
Women Diplomats Panel
Celeste Nuñez
International Business & Trade PanelCeleste Nuñez is the Director of International Business Resources for the New Mexico Trade Alliance, a nonprofit economic development organization. She connects New Mexico companies with local, state, federal, and international export assistance resources to help them gain and grow international sales. Of these resources, Celeste manages the SBA-funded New Mexico STEP State Trade Expansion Program Grant under the New Mexico Trade Alliance’s contract with the State of New Mexico. Her efforts with the NM STEP Grant have resulted in close to $400,000 of grant funds successfully awarded to NM companies.
Celeste sits on the Albuquerque Sister Cities Foundation Board and is Chair of the Albuquerque-Guadalajara Sister City relationship. In 2020, Celeste was selected as the state’s sole Next Gen Global Leader with the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition (USGLC) and is now a member of its New Mexico Advisory Board. In 2019, Celeste served as the organizer for the Albuquerque - Chihuahua Sister City Bilateral Commission, which worked to promote projects of mutual benefit in the areas of economic development, tourism, cultural exchange, public safety, and education. The Bilateral Commission resulted in a tech business deal, training exchanges, and an official MOU signing.
Celeste also has her own consulting company where she works on additional local economic development initiatives with the City of Albuquerque and Bernalillo County.
Celeste graduated summa cum laude from the UNM Anderson School of Management with a BBA focused on International Management and Marketing.
Kristen Gamboa
International Business & Trade Panel
Shannon Jacques
Team Building and Being a LeaderShannon Jacques: An advocate for small business and a leader in community development, Shannon has demonstrated her leadership in many sustainable operations. For over twenty years she was the President of a Women Owned local small business. She has a deep understanding of community, culture and the economic development that drives our economy. She is currently the Chief Development Officer at The Albuquerque Hispano Chamber, where she influences and drives small businesses daily, by helping them to scale on many different levels. She also oversees the programs, conventions and tourism, marketing, and fundraising departments at the chamber. She has worked in event management, small business and non-profit marketing, fundraising & sponsorship for over 25 years.
Shannon has been the event director of many well-known and well attended large events and initiatives including the 17-day New Mexico State Fair, National Rodeo VIP Events, Mud & Bud Run, various industry leadership academies, and now all the signature events with the Hispano Chamber. She has worked on the creative development of special projects with many organizations including the first ever New Mexico State Fair Beer project, which incorporated the emerging craft beer industry with the state’s largest event and was also part of creating the labeling and flavor profile for the first ever New Mexico named beer. The initiative connected small businesses to new opportunities which has led them to be one of the industry leaders in the state.
Shannon has one of the best reputations for creating connections, influencing, community engagement and networking, by finding and creatively connecting small business owners and corporate partners to opportunities. As a relationship builder and facilitator, she has been able to help business of all sizes grow and brand.
Shannon is a partner in her family owned, 60-year-old construction, agriculture and sand & gravel manufacturing businesses, Bar J Industries, partners with her brothers in their general contracting business, North Bar Industries, partner in their investment company, North Bar Investments LLC, and an investing partner in other family ventures.
She is invested in the community and is excited about her role as Chief Development Officer to continue being able to support of our small business community across the country.
Alberto Solis
Cover Letter and Résumé/CV Building
Brandale Mills Coz, Ph.D.
How Diversity Will Change Your IndustryDr. Brandale Mills Cox is a researcher, communications professional, training facilitator and
professor. She is founder and principal of Inclusive Market Research Group, a full-service
research firm that specializes in inclusive and culturally sensitive market research, helping
brands create communications strategies. In this role, Dr. Mills Cox has facilitated trainings
covering inclusive communications strategies and inclusive workplaces and she has also worked
with organizations including nonprofits, pharmaceutical and government agencies using insights
from multicultural audiences through interviews, focus groups and surveys to build diverse
engagement strategies. She has developed DEI strategic plans, to help organizations implement
strategies to foster a sense of belonging and create a more inclusive workplace.
Dr. Mills Cox has worked extensively with higher education institutions including community
colleges and historically Black colleges as a tenure-track professor and as a graduate program
initiating new curriculum development, advising graduate students and developing a five-year
assessment plan for the master’s program, while also implementing diverse recruitment strategies
for the program. She was most recently the Director of Communications at the Bernalillo County
District Attorney’s Office where she handled media outreach and planning on behalf of the
office’s initiatives. In this role, she executed communications efforts both locally and nationally
in addition to organizing press conferences and serving as an Office spokesperson both on
camera and through written statements.
Dr. Mills Cox earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Print Journalism from the University of
New Mexico (Albuquerque, New Mexico), her Master of Arts and Doctorate degree from
Howard University (Washington, DC) in Mass Communications and Media Studies and
Communication, Culture and Media Studies. She was recently named one of Albuquerque
Business First’s “40 under 40” leaders in the state and she is an active member of Delta Sigma
Theta Sorority, Inc. She currently lives in Albuquerque with her husband and their two-year-old daughter.
Richard Luarkie, Ph.D.
Cultural Exchange to Engage DiversityThought leader, visionary, strategic thinker, values based and driven by principle are key identifiers of Dr. Richard Luarkie. With over 20 years of professional business development, strategy and economic advancement experience, Dr. Luarkie is a contributor of solutions. His passion for economic advancement, his mastery of the art to articulate a vision, the skill for public speaking, and his willingness to partner and collaborate are value-adds that are second to none.
Dr. Luarkie has worked for global companies like AT&T – Global Strategy & Business Development, American Management Systems (now CGI group), as well as for multi-million dollar tribal owned companies that were active in the defense, construction, and technology industries. Dr. Luarkie has also been an entrepreneur and has owned two firms, Digital Migration, Inc. (a technology firm) and Emerging Equities Solutions Group (a strategy, business development, and consulting firm). Dr. Luarkie has served in key company leadership roles that range from cost accounting, to marketing and business development, executive director, and chief executive officer.
Dr. Luarkie is a two-term Governor for the Pueblo of Laguna, has served on various boards and committees, including on the Board of Trustees for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. Dr. Luarkie has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of New Mexico in Economics, an MBA from New Mexico State University, and a PhD from Arizona State University. Dr. Luarkie currently serves as the President & Chief Executive Officer for Tamaya Ventures, a professional services firm wholly owned by the Pueblo of Santa Ana, NM.
How to Participate
To participate in Career Connections and Career Connections Global+ programming, attendees must be U.S. citizen ExchangeAlumni and registered for an account on the ExchangeAlumni website at www.alumni.state.gov.
If you have trouble renewing or establishing your account, fill out the account inquiry form at alumni.state.gov/account-inquiry.
NOTE: Global Ties U.S. has limited funds to support travel stipends for alumni. If you are not local to the ABQ area but wish to participate and would like stipend support, please email CareerConnections@globaltiesus.org
How to Register
Registration is now open on the ExchangeAlumni website at www.alumni.state.gov.
To register for Career Connections: ABQ, you will need your ExchangeAlumni account login credentials (see How to Participate for more information).
The link to register is available only in the U.S. ExchangeAlumni section of the ExchangeAlumni website. Once you are logged into the ExchangeAlumni site, please click the button below, and then navigate to the “U.S. ExchangeAlumni” section. From there, you will select “Career Connections” on the left sidebar and be able to register.
Sunday September 18
Dr. Manuel Montoya
Mentorship, Being a Good Mentee, and Identifying a Good Mentor
Laurie Magovern
Persuasive Communication
