MEET JJAB'S NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Greetings Los Alamos community!
My name is Devon Hoffman, and I am the new director of JJAB as of March 2022.
Let me introduce myself: I grew up in Albuquerque to a family whose presence in New Mexico is closely tied to the Pajarito Plateau: through my matrilineal heritage, I am related to Los Alamos Boys’ School founder Ashley Pond and his daughter, the poet Peggy Pond Church. After serving with the Peace Corps in the Philippines, my great grandmother’s poetry about Northern New Mexico inspired my move to Rio Arriba—where I have been living since 2016, working in the local nonprofit ecosystem (before JJAB, I was Director at the Rio Arriba Adult Literacy Program) and making my own art about this region: currently, I am writing and directing a feature length film for my arts collective, the Eyes of Time.
My artistic practice does not end with the weekends I spend on film shoots and nights I spend editing the footage, though, because I approach nonprofit directorship with the same principles as artistic directorship. Both roles demand tightly-orchestrated logistics, relationships of collaborative trust, accountability to community, and—crucially—imagination. Though I’ve only been here a short time, it’s clear JJAB is so much more than set of resources for youth: we are a site for imagining community, a place where our collective assets combine and transform into a better future for our upcoming generations.
I am grateful to my predecessor Lisa Zuhn whose extraordinary stewardship has made JJAB into the vital organization it is today. She and the staff cultivated a garden of programs that’s already growing into so many hopeful possibilities. As I direct this growth, I am imagining ways JJAB can address equity, augment youth voices, cultivate community dialogue, and meet the growing demand for our existing services. I look forward to working with you to develop these ideas into a fully formed future we will all create together.
Sincerely,
Devon Hoffman
