In our ongoing effort to focus on community and local stories in New Mexico, Brant One is continuing our series to highlight Community Leaders once a month. We want to tell stories to inspire and give a shout-out to those working hard among us in our community.
July’s Community Leader Spotlight is on two individuals rather than one: Marian Mendez Cera and Diego Salcido Morales. They both work at Casa Forteleza, a local sexual violence advocacy and support group.
Casa Fortaleza is a local non-profit organization that provides care services, advocacy, and other supports for suvivors of sexual assault. They uniquely focus on the Spanish-speaking population; the only sexual violence support center in the state to do so. Marian is the Director of Education with Casa Fortaleza, and Diego is the Director of Advocacy Services. In an interview with the two of them, both Marian and Diego were eager to speak highly of the other’s hard work and dedication, and for that reason this Community Spotlight is highlighting both of them.
Before Casa Fortaleza
Marian began working with Casa Fortaleza in September 2023, but before that she had a strong start in activism and pushing for making a difference in her community.
“I was doing anywhere from legislative sessions, like policy work, to election work, like getting people out to vote, to community education, like ‘what are your rights’, and things like that,” she said. However, in that area of work, she said that she began to realize that the goals were about making a difference for people’s future, rather than making a difference in the present.
“It was about imagining a future that could have so much change if we change policy, if we change an election, if we change how people see themselves, but that we were not doing a lot of what people needed to survive, what people needed to eat today, what people needed to heal today, or to like feel safe today.” For Marian, joining an organization like Casa Fortaleza was about looking at those issues in the present, and providing support for communities right then when they needed it. Now, as Director of Education, she teaches workshops, builds programs for prevention and education, and has initiated new methods of care and support for sexual assault survivors.
Diego joined Casa Fortaleza in November 2024, after working in his undergrad with UNM’s College Assistance Migrant Program. CAMP is a university organization that provides support to migrant farm worker students in the transition into their first year of college. In his time with CAMP, the program launched Farmworker Awareness Week, and Diego began to see an intersection of farmwork and sexual assault in the people he was working with: “There’s a lot of sexual assault that does happen to migrant farmworkers, especially here in New Mexico. Given that we’re one of the biggest Chile and onion importers or exporters, so that was a little bit of that connection.”
With this experience, Diego went into Casa Fortaleza with the knowledge and background needed for giving a voice to those who have trouble advocating for themselves.
Compassion, Advocacy, and Education
Speaking about her, Diego gave the highest praise for the programs and ideas that Marian has created and contributed to. Recently, Casa has initiated a program called “La Cultura Cura,” meaning “culture heals.” Marian explained that for many Spanish-speaking, immigrant survivors, they left behind comfort and familiarity. The intention of La Cultura Cura is to bring people together to cook traditional meals, speak the same language, and use culture in the healing process.
“She has really reshaped how education and prevention can look, being really creative about the workshops and very intentional about how culture is embedded into those things,” Diego said. “It’s been really beautiful to see how imaginative she has been about what healing may look like.”
Marian spoke highly of Diego’s speedy rise with the organization, from starting as an advocate and being promoted to a SANE (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner) coordinator, and now the Director of Advocacy Services.
“I think that there’s a lot of recognition that he has to take on [for] the beautiful work that he’s doing because it is so heavy to do survivor-centered care,” Marian said. “Having to listen to every single story every day…I think that he has a high level of emotional intelligence that he brings into the space to be able to navigate that, and that is a skill that you don’t learn in work, like in a workplace. That’s a skill that you bring forward as yourself.”
Diego and Marian’s work with Casa Fortaleza has been significant in the organization’s ongoing effort to look out for survivors and people in the community who need help. In a field where advocacy, language access, and healing is so important, both Diego and Marian work hard to make a difference.
Casa Fortaleza’s office is located at 2340 Alamo Avenue SE, Suite 124, Albuquerque, New Mexico. They can be contacted by phone or through their website, casafortaleza.org.
Do you know someone who deserves a spotlight? Let us know! Email [email protected] or visit this form to nominate a Community Leader Spotlight.
Olivia Woodard is a journalist for Brant One News. She can be reached at [email protected] or on Instagram at @brantonenews.
