ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
We are so incredibly proud of our Lapan College & Career Club Alumni. Our students have gone on to win accolades, find fulfilling careers, build families and often come back to serve the Wakefield Community. Never a straight path and often with hardships along the way, each of our alumni highlighted here has an inspiring story to share.
Nana's Mavins - Imelda
Naomi de la Rosa
Nana's Mavins - Bill
Imelda G. Cortez
Pueblo High School, 2009 University of Arizona, Mexican American Studies, Spanish, 2013 University of Arizona, Center for Study of Higher Education, 2015 University of Arizona, College of Education, Ph.D Candidate, 2027 (anticipated) Imelda G. Cortez was part of the very first Lapan College & Career Club cohort all the way back in 2009, and exemplifies Nana Pat’s mission of giving back to her community. Throughout her educational and career pursuits, she has never wavered in her strong advocacy and support for her local community, including the students at the LC3. Imelda is an accomplished educator and scholar dedicated to advancing the educational opportunities for Latine students and families in the Wakefield Neighborhood. She began her educational journey after graduating from Pueblo High School in 2009, pursuing her passion for Mexican-American Studies and Spanish, and earning a Bachelor of Arts degree with a minor in Latin-American Studies at the University of Arizona. After her undergraduate studies, Imelda continued her academic pursuits. She received a Master of Arts degree from the Center for the Study of Higher Education at the University of Arizona in 2015. Her commitment to community engagement led her to work at various community organizations, gaining valuable experience along the way. Imelda's teaching career flourished when she joined the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) as an English High School teacher in the Culturally Relevant Department at Pueblo High School. During her tenure at Pueblo High, she took on the role of a club sponsor for both the M.E.Ch.A group and the IAMME (LGBTQ+) Club, providing a supportive and inclusive environment for students. Imelda's journey continues in her current work at the Mexican-American Studies Department at the University of Arizona, where she is actively pursuing her Ph.D. within the College of Education, specializing in the Teaching, Language, and Sociocultural Studies department. Her research interests revolve around the critical issue of gentrification and its profound impact on educational opportunities for Latine students and families within the Wakefield Neighborhood. Imelda's life journey is characterized by her unwavering dedication to education, advocacy, and her commitment to addressing the challenges faced by underrepresented communities in the pursuit of quality education. Learn more about Imelda’s story in this short documentary.
Naomi De La Rosa
Pueblo High School, 2018 University of Arizona, Bilingual Elementary Education, 2022 University of Arizona, Mental Health Counseling, 2026 (anticipated) Naomi De La Rosa Arellano is so inspiring to us that we named an award in her honor! If you’d met her in high school (or any time thereafter) and seen her big smile and gleaming eyes, you’d likely have had no idea what responsibility she was carrying, having taken on the roles of parent to her younger brother, caretaker to her father and homemaker to her family following her mother’s unexpected deportation in middle school. Today, she continues to give back to her community, and models for all of us what it means to meet the world with positivity and love no matter your circumstances. Naomi De La Rosa Arellano is a first generation Latina who was born and raised in Tucson, Arizona. She grew up in South Tucson where she attended Pueblo High School and graduated among the top 25 students in her class. In 2018, Naomi realized her dream of studying Bilingual Elementary Education at the University of Arizona, graduating first in her class in 2022 after completing her student teaching at Mission View Elementary in South Tucson, one of the schools she attended as a child. Currently she is pursuing a Masters Degree in Mental Health Counseling at the University of Arizona, with the goal of being able to give back to the community that she feels helped raise her to be the woman she is today. At the same time she is also interning for the Pima County Board of Supervisors for District 5 under Chairman Adelita Grijalva, focusing on projects that will implement community renewal. Throughout the years Naomi found significant ways to invest her downtime in activities to serve her community. Whether it was through volunteering or teaching at her former schools, mentoring high school students at the Upward Bound TRiO program, volunteering at The Lapan Sunshine Foundation in the Wakefield community or participating in educational panels, Naomi consistently sought ways to be involved in her community. “That is what drives me,” she explains. “I want to help make positive contributions for the families of my community.” In 2022, The Naomi De La Rosa Humanitarian Award was established through the Lapan Sunshine Foundation to honor Naomi’s years of service to her family, community, and the Lapan College and Career Club.
Estevan "Steve-O" Martinez
Pueblo High School, 2012 Pima Community College, Welding and Fabrication, 2020 At the Lapan College & Career Club, we understand that traditional college is not the right path for every student, and we equally embrace our students who pursue alternative careers and trades. Steve-O Martinez is one of our favorite examples of Lapan Alumni who has gone on to find success and happiness pursuing his trade and artistic expression, and come back to support the LC3 family with a full and open heart he wears on his sleeve. Steve-O Martinez was born and raised on Tucson's south side, attended C.E. Rose Elementary, Wakefield Middle School and Pueblo High School. All the while fostering close friendships and discovering the many interests introduced to him by outstanding educators these institutions had to offer, including art, music, writing, and history. Steve-O graduated from Pueblo High School with honors and was accepted into the University of Arizona's Honors College with intent to attend the U of A after 2 years of Pima Community College with the help of the LC3. However, after intense burnout, multiple changes in majors, and financial struggles, Steve-O took a 4-year hiatus from school to focus on work and honing his artistic prowess. The LC3 welcomed him back with open arms when he decided to change up the whole plan and go the non-traditional route and enrolled into Pima's Welding and Fabrication program where he later graduated with an associates degree. Steve-O now works as a designer/welder/fabricator for a local business and continues to follow his creative passions making and selling his art across the US and Europe as well as volunteering at the Lapan Leadership Summit every year. When he isn't working or creating art, he enjoys learning how to play guitar and asking himself the age old question, "what are we doing here?". He screams, for he does not know.
Yakeleen Almazan
Pueblo High School, 2021 Yale University, 2025 (anticipated) Yakeleen Almazan is passionate, out-spoken and one of our most recognized alumni to date. We marvel taking in the number and breadth of awards and scholarships she has won, the positions and roles she’s held, and the vision for her and her community she relentlessly champions. We dare you to get in her way! As a first-generation, low-income graduate of Pueblo High School and witness of poverty and carcerality, Yakeleen Almazan became an active member in South Tucson as a Pueblo High School student to alleviate these struggles for others in the community, including as a Cross-Age Peer Mentor and Advisory Board Member with the Lapan College & Career Club. In addition, Yakeleen was involved in scientific research, community activism, and advocacy work. Upon graduating from Pueblo High School as the valedictorian in 2021, Yakeleen attended Yale University as a Bill and Melinda Gates Scholar, Coca-Cola Scholar, and Hispanic Scholarship Fund Scholar. Although 3,000 miles from her home in the Sonoran Desert, Yakeleen continues to advocate for the South Tucson community through research and legal endeavors. As a recipient of the Arthur Liman Fellowship for Public Interest Law and the Yale Mellon Mays and Edward Bouchet Fellowship, Yakeleen researches and engages in direct advocacy within the intersection of Criminal and Immigration law, also known as “Crimmigration,” in Tucson and other border communities such as San Diego, California. In her free time, Yakeleen organizes with Mecha de Yale, hosts speaker events with the Yale Undergraduate Prison Project, and leads, as the founder, Mariachi de Yale. With the help of the Yale Law School Launchpad Scholars Program, upon graduating from Yale in 2025, Yakeleen aspires to become a practicing attorney or legal scholar in the field of Crimmigration to alleviate the hindrances placed on migrant communities in the U.S. Yakeleen attributes her personal and professional trajectory to the South Tucson community that uplifted her, especially the Lapan College & Career Club for being a beacon of support throughout her entire high school and undergraduate career. Yakeleen is grateful for the opportunities, love, and support the LC3 provides for herself and the entire Tucson community.
