As part of the Dallas College Distinguished Alumni Awards, Susan “Laura” Altamirano recently received the Emerging Leader Award. Altamirano’s father, Oswaldo Altamirano said, “Laura has reached amazing goals thus far, and I know she can achieve more with continued discipline and courage. I [am] so proud of her!”
Her employer, Texas Health Resources, also recognized Altamirano last year for her participation in their Diversity Action Team for which she received a Mosaic Pin. Altamirano expressed her gratitude to Dallas College, personally thanking them for “finding ways” and “the resources they provided” along with their advocacy for first-generation college students.
Altamirano, like many Dallas College students, was a first-generation college student when she enrolled at Brookhaven in 2007. She earned an Associate of Science in 2017 from Brookhaven. She went on to earn a Bachelor of Science in Health Studies, major in Community Populations from TWU. Finally, Altamirano earned a master’s degree in healthcare administration from LSU in 2022.
A few years ago, Altamirano urged a former Dallas College student, Isidro Iraheta, to request an audit on his transcript to see how many classes he needed graduate; it turned out he had one class left to complete his degree. With Altamirano’s encouragement, Iraheta graduated from Dallas College in May 2023. Iraheta said the following of Altamirano: “I appreciate her helping me get through this and encouraging me to take the extra step to get my associate degree.” Iraheta also shared that earning his associate degree made his parents proud.
Altamirano is now the Chair of the Dallas Chapter of the Hispanic Women’s Network of Texas (HWNT). AnaChrista Robles, State Representative for the Dallas Chapter of HWNT, shared that Altamirano has helped increase membership from 60 to approximately 130 members, essentially doubling membership. Robles, a Dallas College alumnus, said, “Her leadership transcends just general membership, [she’s] really seeping into the community.”
HWNT offers a college readiness program for Latina high school students called Latinas in Progress, in which Altamirano identified the need for parent involvement with their daughters’ choices regarding higher education. Robles said that Altamirano also encourages parents to attend ESL classes and complete their GEDs. Robles said Altamirano has “impacted the community as a whole [and] has done a phenomenal job of representing outside of the network.”
Altamirano said she knows “first-hand how hard it is” being a non-traditional, first-generation college student. During our interview, Altamirano expressed the following sentiments about Dallas College’s commitment to students like her: “They really advocated [for us]. I feel like they advocate for a lot of first-generation students through their programming, through their initiatives…It’s like they don’t give up hope, and they keep trying to help a lot of us out, and so I’m really appreciative of that.”
At the end of the interview, Altamirano described her experience at Dallas College as something she will always be grateful for. “It was because of Dallas College that I was able to transition easily and continue to my academic journey.” said Altamirano.
