Our Youth Leaders

We believe that our communities must reflect the needs, values, and priorities of young people, and young people’s civic engagement is essential to building equitable systems.

Youth Leaders play a key role at NMCAN by engaging peers and the community in systems and policy change. From participating in committees with partner organizations, speaking on panels and presenting at conferences, leading skill-building workshops, and supporting peers in getting involved in systems change work, these leaders are hard at work creating positive change in our community.

Current Youth Leaders

Joanna DeLaney

Joanna Delaney is a youth leader with NMCAN and a fellow with the Jim Casey Foundation. She is a proud young mother to two beautiful children. Joanna is an animal lover who has spent a lot of time rescuing and fostering many animals. She also has a pet family of her own. Originally from Albuquerque, she enjoys photography, reading and writing books, watching movies, horseback riding, going on hikes and trail walks. Joanna is also an entrepreneur and opened a small pet service business. Despite facing a difficult upbringing in an abusive household, Joanna emerged as a strong-willed and loving individual. Joanna hopes to use her experience and voice to drive change in the child welfare system to create more support for families in New Mexico.

Mia Calle

Renee Jenkins

Wafaa Alwashah

Reed Ridens

Yázh Pending

Active Alumni

Alyssa Davis

Alyssa spent a total of 12 years in foster care. She was adopted for five years, but ended up back in care and aged out. She is a Jim Casey Young Fellow and is part of nationwide advocacy groups. Alyssa has advocated for the creation of the Office of Family Representation and Advocacy, the foster youth tax credit, expansion of the tuition waiver for foster youth, and the Fostering Connections Act, which extends support for young people ages 18-21. She is a member of the New Mexico Supreme Court’s Family Representation Commission and the Children’s Law Institute planning committee. In addition to her advocacy, Alyssa is working, writing poetry, and being an incredible mother to her three sons.

Andrew Salazar

Andrew spent five years in foster care and has served as a youth advocate since 2016. He is the former president of Leaders Uniting Voices, Youth Advocates of New Mexico (LUVYA) and has been involved with NMCAN since 2015. Andrew is passionate about advocating for improving the foster care system, particularly around sibling rights and the implementation of a grievance process for young people in care. He is a youth engagement trainer, training adult professionals how to positively engage with young people, a participant in Making Connections: International District, part of Young Men of Color, and a Jim Casey Young Fellow. Andrew has spent the last four years in community organizing and politics, including working for Congresswoman Debra Haaland on Capitol Hill in the summer of 2019. In his spare time, he enjoys hiking, yoga, meditation, reading, watching WWE, and going to concerts. His ultimate goal is to “change society for the better and to improve the foster care system.”

Elijah Davis

Elijah was in and out of foster care from the age of 12 until he aged out at 18. Originally from Orlando, Florida, Elijah has lived in many states, but has been in New Mexico for a number of years and has built community and connections here. He recently earned his GED and then completed a trade program at Central New Mexico Community College. He is happily married with three sons and enjoys playing video games.

Q Martine

Quirn goes by “Q” for short and prefers he/him pronouns. He was born and raised in Albuquerque, NM. As the oldest brother of four, he had to help parent his younger sisters while still very young himself. He has experience with youth engagement including college prep programs and other supportive roles involving youth. His main passion stems from music. Dancing in his free time, slowly honing his skills, though it may not always be public. He uses dancing as a way of healing his soul – showing his emotions which cannot always be expressed through spoken words alone, for he tends to be introverted when you first meet him.

Siihasin Hope

Yá’át’ééh! Siihasin Hope (They/Them) is a Diné (Navajo) Two-spirit Femme and Indigenous Queer Feminist. Hope graduated from the University of New Mexico in 2019 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Native American Studies. They are a Water Protector with the Giniw Collective, an Indigenous Women and Two-Spirit-led resistance collective to defend Mother Earth and live in balance, rising up unafraid with their prayers into action. They are a Co-Founder of The Red Nation, a Native liberation grassroots organization, and Co-Founder of Beyond Borders Caucus which serves as a vehicle for anti-colonial migrant justice organizing. Hope has been organizing in Tiwa Territories (Albuquerque) communities since they were 17 years old living on the streets. Hope has partnered with NMCAN since they lived on the streets to ensure that they are working to change the child welfare system through sharing their life experiences. Hope experienced cycles of homelessness for several years as a youth, and survived sexual violence and systemic violence. This has shaped their passion for organizing and their lens on the intersections of racism, colonialism, capitalism, border imperialism, patriarchy, and violence. Hope believes that what happens to the land happens to our bodies and that the global struggle for Indigenous liberation is a movement for everyone. Ahéhee.

Past Youth Leaders

Cathyanna Sedillo

Monica Ly

Krystal Goosby

Rochelle Alvarado

Jesús Schink

Marissa Vigil