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Atrium is an education non-profit focused on offering career exploration opportunities and guidance needed in a fast-paced evolving world.
Mission
To empower middle-schoolers in New Mexico to understand the possibilities of the world-of-work and feel confident about the process of making career choices.
Vision
We envision a world in which students feel motivated and confident in their career decision-making process through guidance and hands-on experiences.
Why we do it
In the most recent report from the Anne Casey Foundation, New Mexico ranks 50th in overall child well-being, 48th in economic well-being, and 50th in education.
Our New Mexican youth need support and guidance to overcome obstacles and cultivate resilience and a growth mindset.
Click here to learn more about the Anne Casey Foundation Report.
Our values
Our values are the PAGE that we write every day of our lives.
A PAGE is our mission to empower students with the knowledge they need to start and continue their own journey of discovery of interests and jobs. We are aware that having access to information through firsthand accounts or digital sources is not always accessible or easy to navigate. That’s why at Atrium we aim to dismantle those barriers to create a space for future career-related informed decisions.
All our directors, officers, staff, mentors, and students are committed to write the PAGE by channeling the following values:
Purpose
We don’t have a job; we have purpose. We do what we do because we deeply believe in the meaning and impact of our activities on the future confidence and well-being of our students.
Authenticity
We believe that everyone needs to follow their unique interests, ideas and beliefs. All human beings should strive for authenticity in the sense of alignment with what we truly are.
Growth
Our purpose is to grow in all possible ways by sharing, observing, learning and experiencing to become the best version of ourselves.
Empower
We encourage and support students to gain the knowledge and experience related to the jobs and career paths they feel more interested in.
ProgramS
Our programs focus on empowering middle schoolers in New Mexico to discover their interests, passions and strengths. Together this process of self-evaluation combined with the guidance of experienced mentors will provide students with a better understanding of careers in the current world.
We build our programs based on the dialogue with all stakeholders including teachers, students, administrators, and policy- makers. The best way to achieve the desired outcomes with our programming is to learn about the needs, priorities and circumstances before the design and implementation phases. With this information and feedback, we aim to provide useful, meaningful and purposeful career exploration guidance and opportunities that can be used as credits for future career education in high school.
Research
Research is our way of exploring and comprehending the different aspects of a problem. In our case, we focus on problems related to education, career exploration and career decision-making.
Who we are
We are curious lifelong learners that are convinced that everyone needs opportunities to explore interests and also get a better understanding of career paths in the current circumstances and job market. For us, career means a world of possibilities outside and inside college and university degrees.
Mariana is passionate about education as a multidimensional experience that allows us to make sense of the world. She holds a PhD in Spanish and Portuguese and is a current master’s student in Educational Psychology at the University of New Mexico.
Mark Cisneros received his PhD in Hispanic Linguistics from the University of New Mexico in 2022. He has worked as a research assistant and Spanish instructor in the Spanish and Portuguese Department at UNM and in the Department of Writing and Language Studies at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.
Joely is enthusiastic about education and committed to improve the students’ experience in order to be successful with their academics. As a former Spanish Teacher in New Mexico, she is still involved with the educational system as a Substitute for Richmond County in Georgia.