An El Paso Community College librarian, Ana 'Lizzie' Ochoa, has been honored with a prestigious fellowship, as reported by EPCC News. Selected for the Woody and Gayle Hunt Aspen Fellowship of 2025, Ochoa will attend the Aspen Institute Summer Words Festival, a prominent literary event that nurtures both emerging and established writers with workshops and creative development sessions.
Ochoa, amidst crafting several children's books and developing a short story into a script, exclaimed, "I'm super excited," as obtained by EPCC News. Planned for her stay from June 22-27 in Snowmass Village, Colorado, she will join a Book Branding Workshop that Taryn Roeder, Executive Director of Publicity at Abrams Books, will lead. Surrounded by the alluring Colorado mountains, Lizzie is set to deepen her craft with a diverse group of peers.
The Hunt-Aspen Fellowship aims to amplify voices from the Borderplex area, which includes El Paso, TX, Ciudad Juarez, MX, and Las Cruces, NM. The selected fellows gain exposure to national leadership through seminars and roundtables facilitated by The Aspen Institute. Ochoa's contribution is expected to bring fresh perspectives shaped by the bicultural, binational dynamics of the Borderplex.
In grateful acknowledgment of her professional journey, Lizzie told EPCC News, "Being at EPCC has played a meaningful role in shaping me into the professional I am today." The fellowship not only marks personal accolades for Ochoa, but it also insists on a broader engagement, as fellows are encouraged to share their insights upon returning to their communities, thereby strengthening leadership networks. The Aspen Institute Latinos and Society Program manages the Hunt-Aspen Fellowship, which forms part of an agenda to bolster the participation of Borderplex residents in the Institute's myriad endeavors.
