OUR TEAM MEMBERS

Elizabeth-Cuna-Semilla-Strategies-Director

Elizabeth Cuna

Co-Founder / Field & Organizing Specialist

Eli Cuna currently serves as Campaign Director for the Center for Civic Policy (CCP) and Senior Advisor for the NM Dream Team (NMDT). Her focus is on movement building organizing and political strategy in southwest, southern and central communities in both a c(3) and c(4) capacity. As one of the Dream Team’s co-founders, Eli has been a crucial asset in developing what started as a student group at the University of New Mexico into the statewide political youth powerhouse with several electoral and policy wins under their belt it is today. 

Prior to moving back down in New Mexico, Eli served as United We Dream’s National Field Director for four years. There, she worked to develop UWD’s field and political strategy and implementation plans for the Texas, New Mexico, Florida, and California branches during a time of massive mobilizations and incredible resistance. Eli also has helped in the development of the field infrastructure for UWD c3 and UWDA c4 civic engagement. 

During this time she developed a strong organizing curriculum centered in healing, love and joy which are now core values that the NMDT/UWD leadership pipeline centers around. Elis also played a major role in growing the civic engagement capacity for both United We Dream and our sister organization United We Dream Action. While these are just two examples, the victories and transformations she was able to achieve during her time with UWD are numerous and amazing.

Her work in social justice began when she made the decision to come out as undocumented back in 2004 and participated in her first class walk out at Capital High School in Santa Fe to voice the need for access to college education for undocumented youth in New Mexico. Ever since, Eli’s organizing practice is rooted in racial justice, intersectionality and indigenous epistemology. 

Currently she is a member of the Board of Directors for the Center for Civic Policy (CCP) and Funders Youth Collective Organizing (FYCO) and holds two B.A. degrees and a M.P.A from the University of New Mexico.


Isaac De Luna Navarro

Co-Founder / Communications Specialist

Isaac is the Communications Specialist for Semilla Strategies. He also serves as the Communications Director for the Center for Civic Policy and Communications Coordinator for the NM Civic Engagement Table, Political Advisor for the NM Dream Team. Isaac holds a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Communications. Isaac has spent the past six years building communications strategies in different grassroots organizations, including the development of a successful communications fellowship that raised the next generation of communicators to assist local organizations in growing their communications capacity. Isaac continues to leverage online technologies and traditional media to motivate constituencies toward greater civic engagement while developing innovative communications strategies for grassroots campaigns.

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Maggie-Seawright-Semilla-Strategies-Storytelling-Digital-Innovator

Maggie Seawright

Storytelling, Digital, & Creative Content Innovator

Maggie Seawright identifies herself as a passionate and driven Lakota professional with 5+ years of experience in engaging with Native American communities in a multifaceted, dynamic, and culturally competent manner. While she is currently working with substance abuse treatment initiatives, she has also recently worked in substance abuse prevention at the Native American Community Academy (NACA). Her work at NACA was centered on the incorporation of traditional knowledge, active communication, targeted collaboration, and tailored outreach through many different mediums. While at NACA she oversaw the 2020 Positive NACA Norms (PNN) social media campaign which featured youth voices with the goal of engaging Native families to practice healthy coping during these trying times. The campaign recently gained recognition and was published nationally through the Indian Health Initiative. In her free time Maggie enjoys making beadwork and researching traditional Lakota art forms.


Tabitha King

Trainer, Facilitator, & Curriculum Innovator

Tabitha is a first-generation UNM alumna with an evolving passion for highlighting the inherent assets of both individuals and communities. Homegrown from Alamogordo, New Mexico, these passions guide her in uplifting sustainable pathways to economic wealth and health equity for local BIPOC communities. With an earned Bachelor of Science in Psychology. Tabitha’s goals are to continuously, yet humbly, center the well-being and economic freedom of local communities in her future graduate studies. Her relationship with the CEC began as a service member in educational programs located in the Kirtland, South Broadway, and South Valley neighborhoods before serving as a Community Capacity Builder and Public Ally. Tabitha currently serves the CEC as the FoodCorps NM Team Leader and Assistant to the Public Allies NM Program Director and Coordinator. In these roles, the majority of her focus involves supporting community partnerships, facilitating antiracist dialogues, and coaching service members in taking on culturally humble approaches to capacity building in New Mexico.

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Josue De Luna

Climate Policy Innovator

Josue is the New Mexico Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies. He is the founder of the national UndocuHealth program for United We Dream. His work with United We Dream emphasized the importance of community health within the immigrant justice movement. In New Mexico, Josue is the co-founder of the New Mexico Dream Team (NMDT), the largest statewide undocumented-led organization in NM. With the NMDT, he directed a research study with collaboration with UNM’s TREE Center for Advancing Behavioral Health regarding the health impact of anti-immigrant and racist policies on undocumented youth. Josue takes on interest in researching and developing solutions on issues regarding climate change, immigration and public health. He currently also provide climate policy support for the Center for Civic Policy and their project Power 4 NM. Josue holds a B.S. Chemical Engineering from the University of New Mexico.


Amanda King

Advocacy Digital Narrative Innovator

Amanda King is a young Indigenious woman who passionately seeks and advocates for social justice. Born and raised in the four-corners region of New Mexico on the Navajo Nation, Amanda is driven by the resiliency and faith of her ancestors. Recognizing the value of education, she became a first-generation graduate from Brigham Young University. With a Bachelor of Science in Sociology, and minor in communications, Amanda strives to serve communities in need. Shortly after graduation she served an 18-month service mission with her church, working with communities across the state of Oklahoma, helping at community food banks and senior centers and working with local youth groups. Following her return home to New Mexico she joined the NACA Inspired Schools Network (NISN) and worked as campaign coordinator for their community outreach initiatives- “Get Out the Count and “Get Out the Vote”, census and voter registration campaigns. Following the completion of those outreach initiatives she became the Stronger Together Relief Program coordinator for NISN’s COVID relief program. Working with partner organizations and network schools to provide support to communities and families in need. Amanda strives to reflect the values of her culture and upbringing, persevering for what she believes is good and right, being charitable to others, and maintaining integrity through her interactions with others.

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