Martha Estrada is the director of the College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP), whose purpose is to recruit, retain and graduate farmworker college students. The program is under the College of Arts and Sciences at New Mexico State University, and Cynthia Bejarano is the principal investigator for the CAMP grant.
“What I enjoy most about my job is seeing the positive transformations our CAMP students go through and having a front-row seat to all of it,” Estrada said.
Estrada is an NMSU alumna and first-generation college student who earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees. In 2002, she began her professional career at NMSU. In 2004, she became CAMP’s first graduate assistant/academic adviser while earning her master’s degree. She served in that role as full-time staff until 2010, when she moved to Seattle to serve as the first director of the University of Washington CAMP grant. She subsequently moved to Santa Fe to oversee a then newly funded CAMP grant at Northern New Mexico College before returning to NMSU in 2018.
“What attracted me to return was the CAMP program, having the opportunity to return home and serve as director of the program where my CAMP career began,” Estrada said. “I love working with the migrant/seasonal farm-working community — whether it be in Washington or Northern New Mexico. Here, I get to once again, work alongside my mentor, Dr. Cynthia Bejarano, who’s served as CAMP principal investigator since its inception 22 years ago, and I get to see first-hand the positive impact 22 years of CAMP at NMSU has had on individuals, their families and our communities.”
An average day for Estrada may include managing program funds, overseeing programming and working one-on-one with students. She works closely with Bejarano not only to meet program goals and objectives, but also to advocate for farm-working families on and off campus. She is dedicated, along with full-time staff, to ensure students are receiving services they need and are meeting their responsibilities within the program.
“I’m so lucky to serve as director of the CAMP grant at my alma mater,” Estrada said. “I’m extremely proud of our students, who bring their work ethic from the agricultural fields into the classroom, and I am so grateful to work alongside my CAMP colleagues who are genuinely passionate and committed to serving our CAMP students and their families.”