NOTICIAS | January 2026

Beginning 2026 Rooted in Community Care & Resiliencia (Resiliency)

Dear CoCEAL Comunidad (Community),

As we are entering the 2026 new year and swinging back into the Spring semester, the air feels quite heavy. There is palatable tension surrounding what is going on around us every day.

The overwhelm and exhaustion of it all can catch up to us fairly quickly. It is not easy to leave all of these emotions and thoughts at the door when we enter the daily circles in life.

Everyone deserves respect, humanity, dignity, and core human rights. No one deserves living in fear of retaliation for their status.

In revamping CoCEAL, the work to support staff, faculty, and students is pertinent and critical. More than ever, it's important to lean on your community and circles to ensure we keep each other safe.

In the multitude of discussions happening right now, mobilizing long-term, mutual aid, and establishing interdependent communities is a key piece of this work.

I encourage you all to get involved in your own capacity and care for your community through mutual aid, volunteer work, and community building. Most importantly, remember joy and rest is resistance & equally as important in this work.

Please see the few organizations below which do amazing work in our communities and provide helpful resources:

Colorado Rapid Response Network
Virtual Docuteam Volunteer Training Feb. 7th: Bit.ly/virtualdocuteam
Free Legal Info Legal Sessions by Metropolitan State University
Colorado Immigration Rights Coalition
Know Your Rights Information
Sign up to become a volunteer here
Immigrant Legal Resource Center
Step-by-Step Family Preparedness Plan
Denver Food not Bombs (Mutual Aid)
Denver Community Fridges (DCF)
Mi Casa Resource Center
Servicios de la Raza
Casa De Paz
Guides on how to support and access someone in detention
Request Court Accompaniment
Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network
Guide on developing better on-campus mental health resources for undocumented student
Nap Ministry Collective

Take care of yourself and those around you in your community as we all have a collective, shared responsibility to do so.

I am leaving you all with a quote I often use to ground myself:

Progressive social movements do not simply produce statistics and narratives of oppression; rather, the best ones do what great poetry always does: transport us to another place, compel us to relive horrors and, more importantly, enable us to imagine a new society.

With gratitude,

Vanessa Torres

Communications Director

Click here for further information

Reminder: Spring 2026 Membership Meeting on Friday, February 27th!

*Registration ends on Feb 13th*

As a reminder, there still is time to register for our Spring CoCEAL Membership meeting on Friday, February 27th, 2026!

Please note: Registration ends on February 13th.

This meeting will take place from 9 AM - 3 PM at the University of Colorado Denver.

https://forms.gle/rp4K8fMNJ2sAqNy57

Agenda for our membership meeting is down below.

The theme for our meeting is Corazón y Comunidad (Heart and Community): Leading with Compassion and Care!

Meeting location is at CU Denver. Location details will be sent to those who RVSP.

We look forward to connecting with you soon!

**As a reminder this meeting is exclusive to paid members only. Click here for a full list of member institutions and the institutional representatives. Reach out to your institutional representative to see the membership level your institution has secured and participation in this event.**

Three winners will be announced at the end of the meeting.

Spring Membership Meeting Agenda

Check out CoCEAL's Website

for our entire Executive Board!

Our updated CoCEAL Executive Board is now live on our website!

This includes each CoCEAL Executive Board Members biographies.

Reminder to renew your 2025-2026 CoCEAL Membership!

Don't miss our membership meetings, renew your membership today!

We offer several membership categories to draw a diverse group of individuals and organizations interested in supporting our mission. Please check with your institutional representative to see if your institution has renewed or will renew your CoCEAL membership for the 2025-2026 year. (Click HERE, to see a list of last year's institutional representatives).

Individual memberships are also available at just $25.

Click below to register!

Purchase Here!

Outreach Call: Host CoCEAL in Spring 2027!

We are inviting our CoCEAL communidad (community) to host CoCEAL for our membership meeting in Spring 2027.

If you are interested in hosting CoCEAL, please fill out the interest form here.

For inquiries or concerns, email Karl Diaz-Sanders at KARL.DIAZ-SANDERS@UCDENVER.EDU

Nominate Students for Data Collection Coordinator Position!

LGA Consulting seeks applicants with qualitative evaluation and data collection experience with human subjects, or a student who has or will be participating in a related class or degree program.

The ideal candidate will be from Alamosa or the San Luis Valley and interested in or have experience with community-driven programs that make positive change.

Click here for job description and further information.

To nominate/refer students, contact Dr. Nancy Hernandez at nhndz4@gmail.com.

Que Onda? What's Happening?

Forms Now Open for Submissions!

¿Que Onda? What's happening? was created to keep us connected by sharing news of life happenings, stories, events, accomplishments, milestones, birthdays, etc.

We want to continue using this platform as a way to share news amongst our communities!

If you would like to submit to our "Que Onda?/What's Happening?" form, please click here.

- CoCEAL Charlas -

Save the Date: March 3rd!

CoCEAL Charlas is a space to educate and engage with one another through facilitating a presentation/discussion on a topic/subject area.

We have an upcoming Professional Development Charla on Tuesday, March 3rd, 2026 from 4 - 6 PM. Please save the date, details coming soon!

Charlas CoCEAL Facilitation Submissions Now Open!

Are you interested in facilitating a Charlas presentation/discussion? Submit a submission form here.

For questions or concerns, please contact Estefani Pena Figueroa at ESTEFANI.PENAFIGUEROA@UCDENVER.EDU.

In the News:

Report: The risks of AI in schools outweigh the benefits

The risks of using generative artificial intelligence to educate children and teens currently overshadow the benefits, according to a new study by the Brookings Institution's Center for Universal Education.

By Cory Turner | Jan. 14, 2026

Learn More!

There are kids not going to school: fear of ICE is keeping children from classes in Connecticut

In New Haven, where one in six residents is foreign born, children’s education suffers as they are afraid to step out

By Alexandra Villarreal | Jan. 23, 2026

Learn More!

CoCEAL is committed to providing our members to the latest job openings in the state of Colorado. Please know we are working hard to have the latest postings updated weekly so that members can have access to job openings in real time. Concurrently, this job board would not be possible without the participation of our member institutions and other organizations that are committed to the diversification of their workforce and the hiring of latinx people. Please feel free to share the google form link below with your Human Resources departments and other organizations that would like to post job announcements on our job board.

Community College of Denver President | Community College of Denver, Denver, CO

Director of Registration & Records | Community College of Denver, Denver, CO

Financial Aid Advisor/Verification Coordinator | Community College of Denver, Denver, CO

Faculty, Manufacturing| Front Range Community College, Longmont, CO

Faculty, Machining| Front Range Community College, Longmont, CO

Faculty, Early Childhood Education & Elementary Education | Front Range Community College, Fort Collins/Longmont/Westminister, CO

Director, Content Strategy & Executive Communications | Front Range Community College, Multiple Locations, CO

Counselor, TRIO Student Support Services - Bilingual | Front Range Community College, Fort Collins, CO

Counselor, TRIO Student Support Services | Front Range Community College, Fort Collins, CO

Bilingual Admissions Representative | Front Range Community College, Fort Collins, CO

Instructor, Criminal Justice | Aims Community College, Windsor, CO

Director, TRIO Student Support Services | Front Range Community College, Westminster, CO