Staff Spotlight: Five Questions with Mitza Luna. Get to know our Firm Administrator and Executive Assistant to the Partners
Today, get to know Mitza Luna: A Firm Administrator and Executive Assistant with HCM Strategists.
Mitza provides executive support to HCM's partners and leadership team, encompassing project management, operational and procedural oversight, and events management. With a rich background in administrative and operational roles across various sectors, including her recent role at Powerfront, Mitza brings a wealth of experience to HCM. Her transition to educational policy was driven by HCM's mission of improving educational systems through equitable access, a cause close to her heart as a first-generation college graduate. Mitza holds a Bachelor's in Recreation Administration from Texas State University and resides in Austin, Texas.
To learn more about Mitza, please visit her LinkedIn.
We’re lucky to have a team with diverse lived experiences. Tell us about your background and how you found your way to this work.
→ While in college, I discovered the perfect major that combined my two great loves: the outdoors and service. This led me to work in Recreation Therapy, where I focused on making nature accessible to minority groups through educational outlets within school systems. After a brief period in the technology sector, I returned to education by joining HCM, seeking a position that would further my commitment to serving minority groups. Here, I have found a fulfilling and supportive environment that aligns with my passion and goals.
HCM is dedicated to making educational systems more accessible, affordable, accountable, and equitable. What drives you to do this work?
→ I was inspired to join HCM because of its significant efforts to make educational systems more accessible, affordable, accountable, and equitable. Having personally benefited from these policies, I am convinced that our work here makes a real difference. By assisting our partners and supporting firm-wide initiatives, I am dedicated to ensuring that our operations run smoothly and effectively.
One of our core values is collaboration. Who are you partnering with and what are you working on right now that has you excited?
→ I am currently collaborating with a Black-owned business in Atlanta to plan our upcoming staff retreat. Partnering with women- and minority-owned vendors is one way HCM stays true to our value of improving economic mobility for marginalized groups.
What type of client work and impact do you want to see HCM make over the next five years/in the future?
→ I have a strong interest in the data at the intersection of higher education and immigration policy. I hope to see HCM expand into this sector in the future. While I am not currently involved in this area, I aspire to contribute to it as I advance in the field of policy.
When not working, what can people find you doing?
→ Learning how to DJ through a female-owned music school, hiking the water/trails around Austin with my dog Bean, paddleboarding, and meeting my GoodReads goal for the year.
