Elisa Sanchez made her first stand at the age of 16. It was the end of her junior year in high school, and she went to see the guidance counselor about her senior classes. She was handed a schedule that included shorthand, typing, and bookkeeping—but no English. Somewhere Elisa had read that you need four years of English to get into college, so she told the counselor she needed the senior-level English class.
The counselor laughed in her face. “You aren’t going to college, so here’s your schedule for your senior year.” Elisa refused to accept the schedule and again told her she wanted to add English. Again, the counselor refused. They went back and forth several more times, ending in a stare-down when, finally, the counselor relented and admitted Elisa to senior-level English.
Elisa was proud of her first act of personal defiance in response to an act of discrimination. She did indeed go to college the following year, later finishing her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Western New Mexico University. She then received a Master of Public Administration (MPA) from Baruch College in the City University of New York system, which she earned through the National Urban Fellows program. And thus began her long and productive career in social justice.
A LOVING CHILDHOOD
Despite the racism she endured in her home community in Santa Clara (formerly Central), NM, Elisa had a happy childhood. She recalls sitting by her mother’s side at the famous Empire Zinc Strike, now fictionalized in the movie The Salt of the Earth. Her mother, Angelina, was a union leader in the Ladies Auxiliary of Mine Mill and Smelter Workers Local 890 and is a main character in the movie.
Her parents stressed the importance of education, setting up little desks at home at which Elisa and her sister could study in the evenings. Angelina even read the Odyssey to her daughters—both in English and Spanish. Their home was filled with books: encyclopedias, every work by Mark Twain, and a complete set of Junior Classics.
“I lived in a loving and affirming brown family bubble,” Elisa remembers. “We were part of a large, extended family with aunts and uncles and cousins, and my parents had many friends and compadres.”
Although her parents divorced when she was 11, this exposed Elisa to two rich cultures—one in New Mexico with her mother, and another in California with her father, who moved to Los Angeles and welcomed his daughters back every summer.
MOVING AND SHAKING THINGS UP
After high school, Elisa started college with the support of her father. She had no idea how to enroll, but her father—who never attended college himself—drove her to Los Angeles Community College and waited for her to register and show him the finished paperwork.
A year later she transferred to Western New Mexico University in Silver City. As she was going through the registration process, the registrar asked her what she was majoring in. “What’s a major?” Elisa asked. “What do you like to do?” the registrar answered.
Elisa picked education, a natural choice given her upbringing. But she was coached to lose her Mexican accent before she could earn a degree and become successful. “It didn’t make sense—being bilingual has always been a gift, and I’m glad I fought to retain it,” she says. “We need a multicultural system that honors everybody.” She embarked on a mission to do just that after college.
TAKING A STAND
After completing her degree, Elisa taught school for several years in California and New Mexico. She then moved to Baton Rouge, LA where her then-husband accepted a Fellowship at Louisiana State University and taught for one year. Later, she transitioned into a role as a community organizer, then moved to Dallas, TX to take assumed a position with the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights.
By 1974, in the wake of the Watergate scandal, Elisa’s transition to social justice work began to take shape. She became president and CEO of MANA, a national Latina organization based in Washington, D.C. Founded by Mexican American women, MANA’s mission is to empower Latinas through leadership development, community service, and advocacy.
While in this position she served on national boards for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Guttmacher Institute, both in New York City; the Women’s Campaign Fund in Washington, D.C.; ETR in Santa Cruz, CA; and the Latino Issues Forum in San Francisco, CA.
She also co-founded the Women’s Intercultural Network, connecting organizations around the world to ensure female voices “are heard in public forums for full participation in their governments and economies.” Everywhere Elisa went, she fought for gender equality, racial justice, human rights, and educational equity.
COMING HOME
Elisa and her mother returned to New Mexico in 1999. She joined the NMSU staff in 2000 when she created the Southern New Mexico ENLACE (ENgaging LAtino Communities for Education) Collaborative, now housed at Doña Ana Community College. ENLACE is a collaboration of educators, parents, community leaders, and businesses focused on increasing Latino/a graduation rates.
She prepared a proposal for the W. K. Kellogg Foundation requesting $1 million for the ENLACE program, with one stipulation: that she would direct it. She got the grant and stayed with ENLACE for six years.
During this time, she met and married the love of her life: Clifford Pelton. He was 85; she was 74. “We were so in love—people saw us walking together, holding hands, exchanging kisses on the cheek—they thought we were so cute,” she remembers. Clifford passed away just seven years later, but her memories of him remain vivid and filled with joy.
GIVING FOR THE FUTURE
Elisa had long considered the importance of creating a path forward for future generations. “Education really opens a lot of doors that open your eyes and your mind,” she says. “It made a difference in my life, and I know it makes a difference in other people’s lives.”
The remark that ignited her journey into philanthropy came from one of her former students, a young Latina who, upon being awarded a scholarship, said through tears, “Things like this don’t happen to kids like me.”
To ensure that they do, she established the Elisa M. Sanchez Endowed Scholarship to support juniors and seniors who demonstrate financial need, with a preference for first-generation college students who participate in any short- or long-term NMSU-sponsored study abroad program.
A few years later, she created the Angelina G. Sanchez Memorial Endowed Fund for ENLACE Students Studying Abroad, in memory of her mother, to award one or more students with funds for travel, educational, and living expenses while in an NMSU study abroad program.
Finally, in memory of her husband (who had been a civil engineer and member of Tau Beta Pi), she established the Clifford L. Pelton Memorial Endowed Fund in 2021 to support Aggies Without Limits. Clifford’s brother had also endowed a scholarship at NMSU for students who study abroad, hoping that one day, they would pay it forward.
A BIGGER PURPOSE
In addition, Elisa will be increasing the value of her endowments significantly after her lifetime by naming the NMSU Foundation as the beneficiary of her estate, a decision that allows her to enjoy recognition and membership in NMSU’s 1888 Society.
Elisa also chooses to make yearly donations to her endowments from an individual retirement account (IRA) using what’s known as a qualified charitable distribution (QCD). Through a QCD, individuals 70½ years old or older can donate funds to one or more charities directly from a traditional IRA. Doing so can count toward one’s required minimum distribution thereby potentially reducing income taxes.
“I did all this because it is only fair to let everybody have those opportunities and fulfill their dreams,” Elisa says. “If you’ve had a good life and benefitted from a good education, you really should give back.”
Now retired, Elisa remains active in trying to change the colonized education system in New Mexico and protecting and expanding voting rights. She still believes that collective action, trust, and a shared commitment to a common goal can change the world. That, plus a little personal defiance.