We had a few moments to speak with Jake Mirabal, the 100% Bernalillo County initiative leader, about the goals of the initiative and the upcoming BernCo Thrives Summit on June 21st.

Question: Why did you start the 100% New Mexico initiative?

Jake Mirabal: The 100% New Mexico movement is expanding statewide, focusing on organizing for transformation and change within our communities, rather than introducing new social issues. We aim to provide a space to recognize our problems, support existing interventions, and collectively create new solutions and catalysts for change. We want to explore how this approach can be applied here in Bernalillo County.

Many local organizations have shown interest in this movement’s structure and objectives. Our goal is to elevate diverse perspectives, find common ground, and amplify shared voices to drive systemic community transformation.

Question: What are your biggest challenges that you want the initiative to address in your county?

Jake Mirabal: Our goal for this inaugural summit in Bernalillo County is to foster connections and understanding across various sectors. Many organizations, networks, groups, projects, and programs are doing exceptional work in our community, yet we may not all be aware of each other’s efforts.

We aim to create a collaborative framework to identify our shared challenges and define collective goals to advance our efforts. This involves:

1. Developing a clear understanding of each other’s work.
2. Recognizing opportunities for growth.
3. Celebrating the achievements of our community.

We hope this summit will facilitate networking, highlight common barriers the community faces, and showcase outstanding work that may be under the radar. Given the size of our community, it’s common for people to be unaware of various initiatives.

Trust levels vary among individuals, government bodies, and communities. We hope this summit will bring together diverse practices towards a common goal of transformation, building a community of trust, and setting collaborative goals across different sectors.

Question: What are the opportunities and innovations you want to explore through the initiative, including developing a 100% Family Center: One-Stop Service Hub?

Jake Mirabal: We hope this summit in Bernalillo County will create opportunities for collaboration, identify common policy barriers across various services, and foster the development and sharing of creative solutions. Whether through a one-stop service hub or other means, we aim to encourage existing structures, resources, and networks to work together for greater community impact.

Our core values include:

• Being open-minded about what transformation looks like.
• Ensuring we listen to the community’s voice.
• Integrating community feedback into our transformative efforts.

Question: You have a summit coming up. What can you tell me about your goals for the event?

Jake Mirabal: For our inaugural summit, we aim to inspire action and transformation while ensuring sustainability. Given the short time we have together, we have two primary goals:

1. Create a common understanding and framework for the movement.
2. Garner a commitment to transformation, to the action teams, and to each other across teams.

We also aim to develop a policy brief that outlines the common barriers organizations face. This brief will be used to elevate these issues to the relevant bureaucracies, enabling us to work together to address them.

The BernCo Thrives Summit will take place on June 21, 2024. Go to https://www.berncothrives.com/ to learn more and register for this transformative event.