Colin named AgriLife Extension regional program leader

WESLACO  —  Luisa Colin has been named the southern region family and consumer sciences regional program leader for the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, according to Dr. Susan Ballabina, AgriLife Extension’s associate director for program development, College Station.

Colin will office at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Weslaco effective Jan. 1. Her responsibilities will include program planning in the areas of family and consumer sciences and 4-H in South Texas.

“Luisa has demonstrated a passion for reaching limited resource families to help them improve their quality of life,” Ballabina said. “She is creative and innovative in her educational approaches, resulting in large-scale and high-impact programs. Her experiences in program development will be valuable as she leads regional programmatic efforts for both youth and adult audiences.

“Luisa attacks every assignment with commitment. She has strong organization and project management skills. She has also demonstrated success in partnership development to enhance programs.”

Colin has been an AgriLife Extension agent in the Expanded Food and Nutrition Program in Hidalgo County since 2005. From 1998 to 2000, she served as an AgriLife Extension agent for family and consumer sciences.

Prior to joining AgriLife Extension, she was the project coordinator for the University of Texas-Pan American’s GEAR UP project.

Colin earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in human sciences at Texas A&M University-Kingsville in 1997 and 2000, respectively. She is currently working on her doctorate in educational leadership at UT-Pan American.

The regional leadership job description includes “providing the overall vision and regional leadership for the development, implementation, evaluation and interpretation of AgriLife Extension educational programs.”

Dr. Ruben Saldana, the AgriLife Extension district administrator in South Texas, said Colin’s appointment is important to the area.

“This is a critical leadership position for our agency and I’m pleased that it will be located in the Lower Rio Grande Valley,” he said. “This area has great needs in nutrition, diet and health, along with many other family issues. Luisa’s experience and knowledge of border issues will help move our educational agenda forward aggressively along with our goal to partner with others that have common goals.”

Colin said she was anxious to start her new position.

“I hope to provide the guidance and support that will benefit the agents and specialists in South Texas,” she said. “I’m looking forward to working closely with them and the newly assembled leadership team for AgriLife Extension’s south region. I can’t wait to begin this next chapter in my professional career.”