Juaquin is the Vice President of Philanthropic Advising at the Albuquerque Community Foundation. He was the founding Executive Director of Horizons Albuquerque, a nonprofit transformative, tuition-free educational enrichment program that serves students from low-income families. He brings previous college admission, teaching and directing experience as the creator of Bosque School’s College Counseling program.

A native of New Mexico who was the first in his family to leave the state to attend and graduate from Wesleyan University in Connecticut, Juaquin is a respected leader in the community. He is on the Council of the Hispano Philanthropic Society and in recognition of his outstanding college counseling, he received the Yale Educator of the Year Award. Most recently, Juaquin was awarded the Albuquerque Business First Diversity Leader Award and selected as one of the 40 Under Forty honorees. He was also selected as a Líderes Fellow in 2019 with Hispanics In Philanthropy and received the Horizons National Leader of the Year Award.

This year, Juaquin was selected by the Council on Foundations as one of 51 philanthropy professionals from across the country to participate in a Career Pathways leadership development program.

• Red or green? I love both red and green chile, but not together.
• Mountain or River? The two go together in my mind.
• Comedy Club or Dance Club? Dance club for sure!
• Hometown: Albuquerque
• High School Mascot: Sundevil
• If you could have lunch with anyone alive or dead, who would it be? Maria Hinojosa, Mexican-American Journalist.
• If you didn’t work for the Foundation, where would you work?   Horizons Albuquerque
• Name three songs you would include on your soundtrack of life: Billie Holiday’s “When You’re Smiling”, OneRepublic’s “I Lived”, and DJ Khaled and Beyoncé · Jay-Z “Shining”
• What’s your favorite time of the year in New Mexico? The smell of roasted green chile in the crisp air makes the fall one of my favorite seasons in Nuevo Mexico.
• What is a skill you’d like to learn? I would love to learn cinematography.
• If you could witness any event of the past, present or future, what would it be? Witnessing people travel to Mars.