The co-director of New Mexico State University’s Anna, Age Eight Institute has been selected to serve in the Fulbright Specialist Program.
Katherine Ortega Courtney, Ph.D., who co-founded the institute in 2019, was recently placed on the Fulbright Specialist Roster and started a three-year tenure as a Fulbright Specialist.
Part of the larger Fulbright Program, administered by the U.S. Department of State, the Fulbright Specialist Program pairs highly qualified U.S. academics and professionals with institutions abroad to share expertise, strengthen institutional linkages, and learn about other cultures while building capacity at the receiving institutions.
Once paired with a partnering institution, Courtney and other specialists in the program take their skills and knowledge overseas to work on projects that support the institution’s priorities and goals.
“The thing I’m really excited about is learning from other countries on what they’re doing and what we can bring back to New Mexico,” Courtney said. “My focus as a specialist aligns with our work at the Anna, Age Eight Institute, using data, storytelling and trauma-informed systems change to strengthen community health and resilience. It’s a wonderful opportunity to share what we’ve learned in New Mexico and build partnerships globally.”
While Courtney has not yet been paired on a project, she said she would be drawn to countries that have weathered traumatic events.
“Finland, for example, was invaded, and yet they came out of that and created this whole network where everybody is supported, and they’re the happiest country on Earth now,” she said. “So, what’s the difference between that and here? What can we learn so that we can become a state that supports its people and gives people the opportunity to thrive?”
Courtney is a psychologist, life coach and author who co-wrote “Anna, Age Eight: The Data-Driven Prevention of Childhood Trauma and Maltreatment,” a publication that inspired the creation of the Anna, Age Eight Institute.
The Anna, Age Eight Institute, based in NMSU’s College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, works to prevent adverse childhood experiences and the adverse social determinants of health to increase the health, safety, education and resilience of 100% of New Mexico’s children, students and families.
Courtney said she is especially eager to share one of the institute’s flagship initiatives as a Fulbright specialist. The 100% New Mexico program provides counties with a collaborative process for transforming under-resourced communities into fully resourced environments, creating access to essential services. Eighteen of New Mexico’s 33 counties currently participate in 100% New Mexico.
“I would love to share what we’ve learned in New Mexico through the 100% New Mexico initiative and some of the great things that we’ve done with international partners, and perhaps even have similar programs start abroad,” she said.
-30-
Katherine Ortega Courtney, Ph.D., who co-founded the Anna, Age Eight Institute at New Mexico State University in 2019, was recently placed on the Fulbright Specialist Roster and started a three-year tenure as a Fulbright Specialist. (Courtesy)