Public Allies New Mexico (PANM) identifies talented individuals from diverse and under-represented backgrounds who have a passion to make a difference in their communities and aims to turn that passion into a viable career path. The 10-month rigorous program prepares our Allies to become leaders who can engage and unite people of all backgrounds, lead effective projects and organizations, and commit long-term to creating a more just society with opportunity for all. The goal of PANM is to train and promote these emerging young leaders to strengthen non-profits and communities through civic engagement. To meet this goal, we believe placing home-grown diverse people in capacity-building positions in non-profit organizations that address crucial issue affecting New Mexico can build significant capacity and sustainability from the community upwards. The Allies support the expansion and improvement of services, engage community members, and foster collaboration to address our three focus areas of Healthy Futures, Education, and Economic Equity. By strategically partnering with organizations that align with our focus areas and creating measurable objectives for Allies, we build internal capacity to maximize the collective impact these organizations have on communities they serve.
The Public Allies New Mexico Initiative addresses 3 focus areas of Economic, Education, and Healthy Equity. Healthy Equity is our most sought-after request as we address the promotion of social, emotional and spiritual health of all youth toward building healthy relationships and making positive choices in life. By focusing on health and healthy futures, it allows our youth and communities vital access to education and economic stability throughout their lives.
Public Allies New Mexico will enter its sixth program year the fall of 2012, with the goal of growing the program from 15 Allies to 25. Along with growth comes statewide expansion, focusing first on Doña Ana, San Juan, and McKinley Counties. For PANM, this is a huge success, as this will allow us to maximize our own impact and provide more opportunities for individuals and organizations to strengthen, grow, and actualize change.
Public Allies New Mexico takes pride in our partnerships. We have partnered with over forty partners in the past 5 years, losing some to the economic downturn and budget constraints we have all experienced organizationally in the last few years. South Valley Academy has been among our most consistent partners, as year in and year out they have built us into their budget and maintain a unique integrity of ensuring they choose the right candidate and utilize them to their fullest potential. During the last 5 years, South Valley Academy has hosted two of our Allies in their organization to expand and make their programs more efficient, often recruiting from their own community to ensure their values and culture return 10-fold and maintain an environment of sustainability. New Mexico College Access Network has been another consistent partner as they will begin their third year this upcoming fiscal year. The current Allies serving there have created and supported the accessibility of higher educational resources to ensure a bright future for New Mexico’s youth. In partnership with organizations like these, we feel our impact around education will become collective and intentional, moving the needle around education in New Mexico toward success. We also have several two-year organizations that look to partner with us in the upcoming fiscal year, including Somos Un Pueblo Unido, ACE Leadership Academy, and several others. Our intention is to move all our partnerships to a collective impact frame, which allows us to not only to develop the next generation of community leaders but strengthen the organizations and communities they will one day inherit.