President

Evelyn Aello

Evelyn Aello currently serves as the Youth Services Case Management Coordinator under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act where she synchronizes the delivery of services and activities to assist high risk youth in achieving their vocational and educational goals. Evelyn has the privilege of guiding and mentoring a team of talented Youth Specialists who in turn provide assistance to youth in our community.

After six years in workforce development, Evelyn knows firsthand the importance of workforce development and education programs and the impact that they have in Yuma County to be able to pursue sustainable economic opportunities. Evelyn believes it is fundamental to empower, inspire, and mentor youth in Yuma County to achieve self-sufficiency through career pathways, education, and employment goals to meet their full potential.

Evelyn supports Yuma County families by volunteering her time with Desert Financial and Tax Services Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program designed to support free tax preparation service for the underserved since 2018. 

Evelyn is a City of Yuma – Neighborhood Leadership Academy and Hispanic Leadership Institute graduate. Evelyn is also a member of the Delta Mu Delta Honor Society for Business, Lambda Sigma Chapter.

Evelyn holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix.

Vice President

Brenda Buenrostro

Brenda Buenrostro currently serves as an Accounting Specialist at the Housing Authority of the City of Yuma, HACY.  Brenda’s broad areas of responsibilities are in Finance, Property Management, and
Software Troubleshooting. She has been essential to a successful software implementation, training
various departments by ensuring HACY stays in compliance with HACY policies and HUD Regulations.Prior to this Accounting Specialist role, she was a Community Service Specialist for HACY and Youth Services Specialist for Arizona@Work.  She assisted families to become self-sufficient and for families to contribute to the workforce in Yuma County.

Brenda Buenrostro knows the importance that housing stability plays in the successful family.  She is passionate in helping inspire personal responsibility, family financial planning, community wide
communication, and technology innovation.

Brenda Buenrostro has served on the HACY Board of Commissioners, from June of 2017 to June of 2019. She was involved in building the Anchor Project, for the Mesa Heights Neighborhood. This Anchor project created fifty-eight new homes for low income families. In addition, she has participated in the City of Yuma – Neighborhood Leadership Academy.  This Neighborhood Leadership Academy gave her insight into the Yuma City department functions, importance of Yuma city resident’s involvement with the departments.  Brenda Buenrostro has received local recognition, from Arizona@Work, Yuma Crossing Rotary Club, Camarena Law, Yuma County
Entrepreneurs, St Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, and others. She is a proud graduate of Adult Literacy Plus of Southwest Arizona, where she obtained her High School Equivalency Diploma.

Brenda Buenrostro knows firsthand the keys to success include working as hard as one can, being a
friend, accepting good help, offering good help, and the importance of pursing formal education.
She is a proud mother of four highly energetic and obedient boys. She is proud to call Yuma County her home!

Secretary

Lidia Blackthunder

Lidia Blackthunder was raised in Somerton, Arizona, and has proudly called Yuma home for the past 30 years. She is the proud mother of eight children, three biological and five adopted—an experience that has deeply shaped her passion for supporting and guiding youth.

With an educational background in Early Childhood Education, Lidia dedicated more than 20 years to working in childcare. During that time, she also owned and operated her own childcare center, The Imagination Station, for over five years, where she nurtured the growth, creativity,
and development of young children in the community.

Lidia later continued her work supporting young people through ARIZONA@WORK, where she spent 20 years helping disadvantaged youth navigate educational opportunities and career pathways, empowering them to build brighter futures.

Today, Lidia serves as the Manager of Volunteer Services at Onvida Health, where she leads programs that inspire and mentor students, especially youth, who want to make a difference in their community while exploring careers in healthcare. She finds great fulfillment in guiding volunteers and fostering a spirit of service and compassion. Lidia believes that small acts of kindness can have a profound impact. She is honored to serve on the Adult Literacy Plus Committee, where she supports and encourages individuals as they pursue their educational goals and work toward building better opportunities for themselves and
their families.

Treasurer

Monica Castro

With over sixteen years of experience in finance management, business operations, and strategic planning, Monica Castro believes that she can make valuable contributions to ALPS’ efforts. Currently, she is the Director of Finance for the City of San Luis, with responsibilities including financial services, auditing, budgeting, grant administration, procurement, capital planning, debt management, and policy compliance. Before this role, Monica was Global Procurement Manager for Gowan Company, responsible for the company’s worldwide sourcing strategy for raw materials, including risk management, contract negotiations, and inventory management. She also headed Gowan Company’s International Finance division, where she played a vital role in the global expansion strategy of international business. Monica also has experience in the nonprofit sector, where she’s gained valuable experience in finance and management. Monica is a first-generation college graduate with a baccalaureate degree in accounting from the University of Sonora. She holds a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Arizona, and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Monica lives with her husband and two children in Yuma, AZ. She enjoys the outdoors, traveling, and spending time with family and friends. As a first-generation college graduate, She understands the importance of education and the opportunities it can provide.

Member

Raul Canal

Raul Canal is a Vocational Education Coordinator where he analyzes how students
differ in their approaches to learning; creates instructional opportunities that are adapted
to diverse learners; understands instructional planning; and designs instruction based
on knowledge of the discipline, student, community, and curriculum goals.

Raul believes that competency-based instructions culminating in essential life skills,
certified occupational skills and meaningful employment and/or entrance into a higher
education institution for advanced preparation should be available to all adult learners.

Raul has secured employment at Arizona Western College where he helps job seekers
and career changers prepare for and advance in careers with a focus on sustainable,
high-growth, high-demand industries. He delivers comprehensive workforce solutions at
integrated career centers, sector-focused centers and community, and partner sites.

Raul further serves as a board member for the City of Yuma Parks and Recreation. His
intrinsic passion to assist others stems from his family’s values and faith.

Member

Justin Jahn

With over 15 years of widespread experience in technology, serving in roles such as full-stack developer, network and voice engineer, and systems architect, Justin now serves Avenir Financial as the Director of Technology.

Above all, a deep-rooted passion for learning and creative problem solving continues to drive Justin to explore the many facets of technology in today’s world and how they might translate to serve the needs of businesses.

Member

Samuel Mendoza

Samuel Mendoza is a public service professional with more than 20 years of combined private and public sector experience in local government operations within Yuma County. He currently serves as an Administrative Supervisor for the Yuma County Department of Public Works, where he oversees administrative functions, financial processes, and workforce support across multiple divisions.

His background includes extensive experience in human resources, recruitment, onboarding, payroll oversight, records and data management, policy development, and process improvement. He has consistently supported departmental efficiency through the development of streamlined systems, accurate reporting, and cross-divisional collaboration.

Samuel is strongly committed to workforce development and community engagement. He has led and supported internship programs in partnership with Arizona at Work, helping connect individuals to hands-on training and employment pathways within county operations. He also played a key role in establishing the annual Yuma County Career and Technical Education (CTE) Day for Yuma County high school students, creating opportunities for students to explore public sector careers and engage directly with local professionals.

As a board member for Adult Literacy Plus, he continues to support initiatives that promote literacy, workforce readiness, and lifelong learning throughout the Yuma community. He is Yuma-raised and values his deep ties to the community he serves, and he is a proud husband and father.

Member

Peter Palumbo

Peter Palumbo has a background working with Board of Directors for financial institutions as a consultant. Peter was born in Los Angeles, CA. He worked on homelessness causes and advised
Los Angeles City Council, Los Angeles Board of Supervisors and the City and County of San Francisco Board of Supervisors. A cause very important to him having a family member pass away being homeless.

Also important is Mended Hearts and Little Mended Hearts as nonpartisan for cardiovascular and implant devices funding at a national level by meeting with legislators in Washington DC, television/Radio appearances and town halls. Peter relocated to Yuma, AZ working with a local credit union and now owns a cost reduction firm helping business owners of all industries lower operating costs and improving profitability.

Peter enjoys helping local non-profits raise funds to support their cause. Peter looks forward to working with ALPS as a board member helping adults to better their education and themselves.