Leadership is both a talent and a skill that is developed over time. To learn leadership, you need mentors, training, and practical experience. But those opportunities can be few and far between for young women who live in rural communities like Questa. It’s a problem that one Questa local set out to solve after participating in a conference through the University of Wyoming.
In early August, Madalena Miera shared her idea to launch a local youth leadership program with LOR Questa community officer Maria Gonzalez. Miera wanted to hold a series of workshops that would educate and empower young women, giving more than three dozen Questa girls the chance to learn from successful female leaders. As part of the series, the young women would be paired with mentors who would work with them to set professional goals and prepare them to become Questa’s next community leaders. With support from Localogy and LOR, Miera and her organization Con Alma y Corazón will host a two-day summit on October 18-19 and begin workshops next year, giving Questa’s young women the opportunities they deserve. Questa’s budding young leaders can contact school counselor Brian Salazar to register for the summit.
“For some people, leadership is a gift. But for many others, we have to work at it,” Gonzalez says. “For too long, young women in Questa have had few opportunities to strengthen their leadership. We were thrilled to support Madalena because these new workshops will encourage and prepare a new generation of leaders in Questa, setting up our young women for success.
Miera’s workshops are one of the roughly two dozen projects LOR has supported in Questa so far this year. Other locally led projects have expanded student learning, bolstered Questa’s water infrastructure, and cared for local pets and stray animals. With 2025 right around the corner, we’d love to support more community solutions led by Questa locals. If you have a community project you want to bring to life before the end of year, reach out to Gonzalez today!
You can always get in touch with Gonzalez at maria@lorfoundation.org or (575) 665-2001 for help getting your community project off the ground. But if you’re looking for a time to chat with her in person, she’ll be at the Village of Questa’s Trunk o’ Treat on November 1 at the Business Park Loop. What could be better than sharing your idea to improve the lives of locals over a piece of candy on a cool fall night? For Gonzalez, the answer is: nothing!
LOR works with rural communities in the Mountain West to enhance livability and prosperity while preserving the character that makes each community unique.
LOR works with rural communities
in the Mountain West to enhance livability and prosperity while preserving the character that makes each community unique. LOR supports locally led community projects that improve transportation, housing, the environment, education, civic engagement, water, health, and the economy.
