MEET OUR TEAM

  Executive

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​tere@elpasomovement.org

Tere Garcia
Executive Director

I have been involved in education for 35 years, the last 28 in BVSD as a bilingual teacher and administrator. I consider ELPASO movement as one of the best answers to the problem -Achievement and Opportunity Gap between Latino students and their Anglo counter-part, here in Boulder county.
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I have an incredible family- my two daughters, Laura and Lorena, who also work in the administration of two highly successful organizations. My husband Richard L. Garcia, educator and activist for more than 40 years. My favorite hobbies are singing, dancing, reading and traveling.

Development

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​richard@elpasomovement.org

Richard Garcia
Development Director

Richard is a 7th generation Mexican American. He was born and raised in Monte Vista, Colorado and moved to Boulder to attend the University of Colorado in 1970, and earned a Master’s in Education degree in 1978.

Richard’s passion for parent involvement in education began with his own children who were enrolled in the Boulder Valley School District.  He has founded a number of non-profits that work towards that end. He served as the executive director/founder of the Colorado Statewide Parent Coalition for 38 years. He co-founded AMISTAD, LATINO TASK-FORCE and Los Padres. He is the former administrator and chair of the Community Foundation serving Boulder County. He has also served on many boards and commissions locally and statewide. He is currently a member of the Boulder Valley School’s board of education and has currently been appointed to serve on the board of trustees for the Colorado Community College System. 

Administrative 

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​​eva@elpasomovement.org

Eva Maria Camberos
Administrative Assistant

Eva Maria Camberos is the Administrative Assistant at ELPASO. She is a first generation Mexican immigrant who came to the United States as a child, and is passionate about providing others the resources she wished her parents would have had the chance to receive when she was a child. Eva Maria is currently working towards her degree in Mechanical Engineering at Metropolitan State University of Denver while working towards helping ELPASO achieve their goal of closing the achievement gap.
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​​silvana@elpasomovement.org

Silvana Munro
Event Coordinator

Silvana Munro was born in Peru and most of her life she has dedicated it to community work. From organizing kids’ Christmas parties in the poorest cities in Lima, to volunteering at INABIF's abused girls orphanages. Her calling to be a detailed-oriented professional translator and interpreter came from the desire of building a bridge between different cultures and languages. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Translation and Interpretation of French, Italian and English from the University of the Sacred Heart in Peru. 

After moving to the US, nine years ago, Silvana was committed to get involved in her new community to highlight the voices of her Latin fellows by offering language services, being a board member and volunteering in different non-profit organizations, such as Habitat for Humanity, Boulder Community Foundation, Longmont Food Rescue, Sustainable Resilient Longmont, Longmont Community Justice Partners, AINC Colorado, Boulder Spellbinders and others. As a mom-of-two and with a passion for racial and social justice, Silvana found her happy place at ELPASO Movement.
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​​kelly@elpasomovement.org

Kelly Perez
Child Care Coordinator

My name is María de los Ángeles Pérez Mares (Kelly) and I was born in the city of Mexico. I am the oldest sister of the 3 siblings. I am married to to Federico Vaca and we have 4 beautiful children who is Federico of 19 years old, Christian of 13 years old, Jessica of 8 years old, and my little one Adan of 2 years old. 
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In 2005, we came to live in the United States for a better future. For the year 2009, I started to participate in the PASO (proveedoras avanzado el éxito académico) to learn about child development. In 2014, I received for the first time my CDA (Child Development Associate) degree and I continue to renew my credentials every 3 years. For 13 years, I’ve taken care of children in the comfort of my home. I have 4 years working as a coordinator of child development for the ELPASO ÉXITO and ELPASO VOZ program.

303-817-1613
​Jose@elpasomovement.org

Jose Colima
Tutoring Program Coordinator


Hello There! My name is Jose Colima, I would like to share about myself. I love to learn, and keep learning. So… anything that you throw at me I will absorb like a sponge. I like to keep motivated through the many forms of change that happen in the journey of life. I am optimistic and will find the solution to a problem, even when it is not clear. The main reason why someone succeeds at anything, is by not giving up. Well Batman, you have met your Robin. I shall not give up until everyone succeeds. I feel that everyone gets a bigger piece of the cake, if we just make more cakes. 

I have helped tutor children since I was in middle school. My mom was in a group at my elementary school called PUENTES, I would take care of the parent's children and help them with their homework, while the meeting would go on to help parents get educated here in the United states. Most of the parents were Latinos and other minorities. The program was established to help out the parents who did not speak English learn about the culture here in America. My mom and I would donate our time to help out our neighbors. Throughout the years I have helped my classmates that did not know English or would not be so in contact with schools or important meetings that the state had put out for its citizens. 
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I am improving myself everyday. I want to be able to look back from my death-bed, and know that I helped improve lives. I believe that we all deserve and want the best in life; however, it takes a lot of hard work to achieve these goals. This is why when my mom (who had just been recently hired at the time) told me what they do at ELPASO, I applied and talked to Tere right away. I felt like I could really make a difference here. I have been here for two months now, and I really do feel that I am making a difference in people's lives. Not just a difference, but I'm helping them reach that goal of self improvement, and self motivation. Thank you!

Boulder

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​​claudia@elpasomovement.org

Claudia Sanchez
Community Organizer Boulder

My name is Claudia Sánchez Daniel. I was born in Guadalajara, México. I am happily married, and I have three children: Yarreli (17 years old), Roberto Jr. (14 years old) and Anthony (12 years old).  I have worked for ELPASO for the past 5 years as a School Readiness Coordinator and I am now serving as a Community Organizer for ELPASO VOZ.

"Education is the most powerful tool which you can use to change the world."
-Nelson Mandela
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​​patricia@elpasomovement.org

Patricia Molina
​School Readiness Coordinator Boulder

Hi my name is Patricia Molina and I’m from Mexico. I have 3 kids, two who have already graduated from high school; one of them who is in college and the youngest one is a 10th grader in high school. I’ve lived in Boulder for 25 years. Now I work at ELPASO ÉXITO as a coordinator. I love my job because I enjoy helping people. Before this job, I worked as an assistant coordinator in family resources for the city of Boulder, at Columbine Elementary. In the future, I want to be a psychologist.


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Lafayette

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tangi@elpasomovement.org

Tangi Lancaster
Community Organizer Lafayette 

Colorado became my permanent home in 1996, after living on both coasts in many states. I have also lived, traveled and studied in Germany and Mexico. I love to travel and learn about all cultures of the world! My husband and I have two small children that are my world. My family has hosted 15 high school exchange students from around the world and 3 international adult visitors (one German, the other 2 Ugandan). I have provided professional child care for many since 1996; worked for an exchange student organization for many years; and was a preschool community liaison for BVSD until March 2020, when I joined the phenomenal organization ELPASO. It gives me great pleasure be a community organizer and see parents and other community members become community leaders!

Join Tangi on ELPASO'S Lafayette Voz facebook page.
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​​trini@elpasomovement.org

Trini Nieves
​School Readiness Coordinator Lafayette

My name is María Trinidad Nieves Hernández, I am originally from Guadalajara, Jalisco, México. My husband and I have three children, 24, 23, and 15 years old. I came to this country almost 19 years ago in order to offer my children a better life.

I completed my English classes at Intercambio.  A year later I was able to obtain my GED certificate. I also volunteered at my children's schools in different areas. While I was in a Social Worker program at Front Range Community College, I was in a car accident, which forced me to stop my studies. Fortunately, after several years of convalescence, my health returned completely.

​Currently, I am part of the ELPASO ÉXITO team as the School Readiness Coordinator in Lafayette, where I support families so that their sons and daughters are ready to learn.

Longmont

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​​caro@elpasomovement.org

Carolina Neri 
Community Organizer Longmont

Carolina Neri was born in Mexico City and moved with her husband to Boulder, CO in 2015. She studied Geography at the Universidad Naciona Autónoma de México, has worked on various research projects and taught courses for adaptation and resilience development in Latin America and the Caribbean. Her interest in strengthening capacities in the Latino community motivated her to be part of El Paso. Her passion is swimming, in the ocean, lakes, rivers and wherever there is water. She enjoys spending time with her daughters, Marina and Sol.
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​​ere@elpasomovement.org

Ere Juarez
​School Readiness Coordinator Longmont

I have been a resident of Longmont for the last 22 years.  I am a community leader and trainer for a variety of programs. Right now I am a School Readiness Coordinator for Engaged Latino Parents Advancing Student Outcomes (ELPASO) and am a co-facilitator of the Program, Padres Abogando Responsablemente por el Interés De la Aptitud de la Docencia (PARIDAD).




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​​damary@elpasomovement.org

Damary Yanes
​School Readiness Coordinator Longmont

I was born and raised in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.  I am married and have two girls who are 3 and 5 years old.  I am a doctor trained in general medicine and minor surgery.  I practiced in Honduras for 5 years and I am super passionate about helping others.  
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I moved with my family to Colorado four years ago.  I have been a leader with ELPASO ÉXITO and ELPASO VOZ and I have been working for the last year as a School Readiness Coordinator for ELPASO ÉXITO in Longmont.  I love working with the Latino community and I believe that early childhood education is essential in ensuring that our children achieve academic success in all possible ways.
elpaso@elpasomovement.org