Reignite, Rebuild, Reimagine: A New Era for Community Education and Workforce Development

By Ashlee Velasquez

The Community Education and Workforce Development program at UNM-Gallup (UNMGCEWD) provides career development and personal enrichment opportunities for community members to gain the skills and knowledge for their individual goals.

Community Education and Workforce Development courses are non-credit and non-degree seeking. Students who take Community Education and Workforce Development classes do not need to be enrolled as a credit-earning student at UNM-Gallup and typically do not apply for financial aid. Community Education and Workforce Development courses are short-term, specialized and customizable.

Community Education courses are designed to fulfill personal aspirations for self-development and improvement in personal enrichment, creative expression or social interaction. Community Education is aimed at fulfilling lives while contributing to the betterment of the local and surrounding communities. 

Workforce Development courses can be for employers who want to upskill, reskill or train their team in a certain field. Workforce Development is also for individuals who want to enhance their professional development skills within their current occupation or become enrolled in a class to immerse themselves in an area that they want to explore professionally.

If employers want to train their team in a certain field or enhance their skills to stay competitive in today’s workforce industry, UNMGCEWD can create customized trainings and bundle certificates for your business needs.

If a certified, verifiable community member wants to share their passion as a non-credit instructor, UNMGCEWD is always looking for dedicated individuals who want to share their knowledge and skills. 

UNMGCEWD’s newest certificate that rolled out is the Solar Technician Certification. This will start on June 2 through August 22, 2025 and is a 12-week course. This is the first cohort for this year and another cohort will start near the Fall. Thereafter, there will be 3 cohorts per year. This certification is geared to help give back to the community by identifying and working with Navajo Chapters to identify 3 families that are in dire need of electrical services for refrigerated medicine storage, life-giving machines such as oxygen, and any essential services that require electricity. Our students will be gaining hands-on experience doing live installations and becoming the maintenance technicians for these systems they install. In essence, UNMGCEWD is training these Solar Technicians to become entrepreneurs by becoming the on-call person to service these systems and becoming their own bosses. The curriculum will also teach professional development skills in customer service, communication, financial literacy, basic business skills, career mentoring entrepreneurship and small solar business development. Students will also have all the tool kits and knowledge they need to become a self-starting small business. 

UNMGCEWD still offers Commercial Driver’s Licenses in Class A and B where Class A starts every month and Class B starts every few months. These certifications have been instrumental in building the construction, transportation and small business industries within the Gallup and Tribal communities.

UNMGCEWD also offers online certifications in Strategic Writing for Leaders, Essentials for Managers, Grant Writing, Business Writing Fundamentals, Payroll Management, Professional Communication, Payroll Practice and Management with Microsoft Excel, Professional Bookkeeping with QuickBooks Online, Basic/Intermediate/Advances levels of Microsoft Excel, Hotel Management, Activity Director, Certified Administrative Professional, Certified Bookkeeper, Certified Residential Interior Designer, Digital Court Reporting with Legal Transcription, Home Inspection and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).  Some of which students will receive digital badges upon completion. 

For future certifications, UNMGCEWD is working to bring a Heavy Equipment Operator, Medical Assistant, Pharmacy Technician, HVAC, Residential Electrician and focusing on short-term, technical trades.

UNMGCEWD is committed to improving and empowering the Gallup and surrounding communities with the certifications, skills and tools needed to build stronger together. 

Ashlee Velasquez is the Director for Community Education and Workforce Development
Her email is: avelasquez1127@unm.edu
Ashlee Velasquez aims to bring more professional development, technical, short-term certifications to UNM-Gallup’s Community Education and Workforce Development to help students stay close to home but go far. She has degrees in Human Resources and Public Administration that have been instrumental in her career towards Workforce Development. Prior to becoming a Director at UNM, she has had experience with the Navajo Nation and gained valuable knowledge and skills to help the tribal communities. She has brought a wealth of information and passion to help others succeed towards their education and career goals. Her vision is to build a program that will cater and build our local and tribal organizations’ workforces.