¡YouthWorks! Staff
Melynn Schuyler, Executive Director M.A., LPC, is a NM Licensed Professional Counselor. She received her Master of Arts in Marriage, Family, and Child Therapy from the California Family Study Center in 1993, after earning a BA from Boston University in 1988. In 2001, she developed and founded ¡YouthWorks! to serve youth and families in the areas of emotional support, Life Skills, violence prevention, substance abuse prevention, and youth job skill training and employment. She furthermore, developed the Santa Fe Youth Corps within ¡YouthWorks! to address the critical need among high-risk youth to transition into productive and sustainable roles in adulthood. She provides supervised and paid employment and hands on training particularly in the areas of river restoration, city park maintenance, and community housing maintenance. Ms. Schuyler developed and oversees the on-site facility for daily GED training for high-risk youth. She is responsible for fiscal development, budget management, program development, contract negotiation and management, staffing coordination, and fundraising.
Jaime O'Neill, Bookkeeper/Job Developer, has the unique experience of business and providing direct services to high-risk youth. Mr. O'Neill is a thirty-year resident of Santa Fe with a rich history of local business practices and business owners. Mr. O'Neill is responsible for managing all of ¡Youthworks! daily financial transactions, reimbursements, grant reporting, and contracts. He works closely with the certified public accountant to manage all accounts. Mr. O'Neill works closely with potential customers to determine the scope of the project and prepare the contract bid.
Tobe Bott-Lyons, Educational Coordinator, is licensed in New Mexico as a Secondary & Special Educator and has taught severely emotionally disturbed middle and high school students at the Santa Fe Public Schools. He graduated from Santa Fe High School and went on to earn a BA in Cultural Studies and Education at the New School for Social Research in New York. He has extensive experience with at risk youth through his employment at the Santa Fe La Otra Puerta Youth Shelter, where he provided supervision, support, life skills, crisis intervention and advocacy for homeless, run-away, adjudicated and other "at-risk" youth and received formal training in managing aggressive behavior and crisis intervention. At ¡Youthworks!, Mr. Bott-Lyons works with youth to identify and pursue their educational goals. He has assisted with the development and implementation of Pre-employment/Workforce Development, Youth Leadership Development, GED Prep and Basic Literacy, Life Skills, Community Leadership and Peer Education, Gang and Violence Prevention, Case Management and Advocacy, and Service Learning and School Reform initiatives.
Michael Santillanes - Education Director
"I was born in 1981 in Portales, New Mexico, the oldest son of Reinaldo Santillanes and Lydia Ossorgin. My early years were spent primarily in rural places all over New Mexico. We moved around quite a bit, as my parents sought a better life for us. They were both teachers. It was in this pursuit of a better life that my mother, my two sisters, my brother and I went to live in Anchorage, Alaska. I was ten years old. I lived happily in Alaska until 1999 when I returned to New Mexico in order to attended St. John's College in Santa Fe. At St. John's I studied the Great Books and the Liberal Arts (including the history of math and science). In 2003, I received the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Since then, I have pursued my passion for education by working as a tutor and a teacher, helping students from elementary to college level. Some of my other interests include: art, music, and film."
Kenneth Montoya - Youth Development Specialist
Ciaran Clark - Youth Transition Coordinator
Jackie Gibbs - Youth Development Specialist
Justin Armijo - River Restoration Fellow
Melissa Mitchell - Counseling Director
Felina Rodriguez - LifeSkills Facilitator
Andrew Mata - Crew Leader
Enoch Vickrey, Justina Lujan, Hope Perez, and Teresa Talavera - Culinary Crew and Breakfast Club Staff
