Faces & places
Steve Laurent has been named the new executive director of the Los Alamos Community Foundation.
Laurent replaces Rachel Kizielewicz who, after four years as executive director, announced her departure due to family relocation to Virginia earlier this year.
“I’m excited to start connecting with our nonprofit leaders and their supporters to ensure that the Foundation serves as a valued resource, trusted partner and effective supporter of their important efforts,” Laurent said in a statement.
He returned to Los Alamos after six years in Park City, Utah, where he served most recently as managing director of Mountainlands Community Housing Trust.
From 2008 to 2015, he and his family lived in Los Alamos, where he worked as an attorney at Los Alamos National Bank, Santa Fe County and LA Mesa Law Firm.
Laurent now lives in Los Alamos with his wife, Anne. Their children, Frances and Maxim, are graduates of Los Alamos High School and are attending college at the University of Utah and the University of New Mexico.
Laurent holds a law degree from Michigan State University, a master’s in history from Arizona State University and a bachelor's degree from Aquinas College.
His first official day as executive director for the foundation is July 11.
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The PNM Resources Foundation announced 19 New Mexico nonprofits, including two in Santa Fe, will share a total of $230,000 in grant funding for increasing community safety. Funding is up to $15,000 for each nonprofit to help combat crime in New Mexico.
The 2022 Community Safety grant recipients in Santa Fe are the Partners in Education Foundation for Santa Fe Public Schools and the Santa Fe Children's Museum.
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The state Department of Health announced nearly $3.5 million in grant funding has been awarded to 12 community-led organizations in New Mexico through the Better Together Grant Program, which is federally funded by an appropriation to support vaccine equity and inclusion throughout New Mexico.
Among the recipients was Chainbreaker Collective, which received $200,000, focused on the essential worker and immigrant population in Santa Fe County.
Education standouts
Ryan Peery of Santa Fe recently graduated with a Bachelor of Science in biology from Eastern New Mexico University. At the Spring Academic Honors Convocation prior to the graduation ceremony, Peery received his white honor cords for graduating cum laude. Peery has been accepted to ENMU's graduate program and will be pursuing a Master of Science in biology. He is the son of Renada Peery-Galon and Joe Galon of Santa Fe.
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Olivia Claire Summa of Santa Fe has graduated with a Doctor of Psychology in clinical psychology as a member of William James College's class of 2022. The school is in Newton, Mass.
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Melaki Jones, a 2022 graduate of Española Valley High School, has been selected from more than 3,000 applicants for one of 70 national Jackie Robinson Scholarships. He was awarded a four-year scholarship for $22,800 from the Jackie Robinson Foundation.
The scholarship includes all-expense-paid travel to participate in the foundation's mentoring and leadership conference in New York City and an international service trip.
Melaki is the son of Melissa Montoya and Greg Jones.
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Jonah Duch of Santa Fe graduated with a Doctor of Philosophy in materials science and engineering from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa., in spring 2022.
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Kashi Subedi of Los Alamos graduated with a doctorate from Ohio University's College of Arts and Sciences in spring 2022. The college is in Athens, Ohio.
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Lilianna Fitzgerald of Santa Fe was named on the Gonzaga University Dean's List for spring semester 2022. Gonzaga is in Spokane, Wash.
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Casey Lakatos, a theater major from Santa Fe, was named on the spring 2022 Dean's List at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, S.C.
Hannah Clegg of Los Alamos, an intelligence and national security studies major, was named to the school's President's List.
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Claudette Cordova of Española was named to the spring 2022 Dean's List at Washburn University in Topeka, Kan.
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Shayna Ungerleider of Los Alamos was named to the University of Iowa's Dean's List for spring 2022 and graduated from the school's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology.
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Aimmee Lee of Santa Fe was named to the spring 2022 Dean's List at Missouri State University.
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Yaoxing Wu of Santa Fe has earned a Master of Science in analytics from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.
