History Makers: Sylvia Acosta

SYLVIA ACOSTA LEADS the New Mexico State University Foundation, which awarded more than $16 million to university programs and scholarships in 2023. A former CEO of the nation’s largest YWCA, she’s fueled by her optimistic attitude and boundless energy to ensure opportunities for first-generation college students like herself.

STRONG FOUNDATION. Acosta’s Mexico-born father came to the U.S. during the Bracero Program for immigrant workers in the 1950s. Her mother, a California-born citizen who was deported during the Mexican Repatriation Program of the 1930s, worked as a seamstress and restaurant hostess in El Paso, Texas. After showing her his blisters and calluses from working in fields and canneries, Acosta’s father urged her to work with her mind, not her hands. “My parents never gave up, so I learned to never give up.”

VOICE LESSONS. Acosta has spoken at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, testified in front of Congress, and served as a delegate for the YWCA world conference in South Africa. “To speak on very serious topics that hurt the social structure of communities is essential,” she says. “Using my voice on behalf of those who don’t have one is my entire life’s work.”

SUPPORT SYSTEM. Former Governor Gary Carruthers hired her as the director of development for the NMSU College of Business in 2003. Acosta was a single mother with a nine-month-old baby and questioned whether she could handle the role. “He said, ‘I’m hiring you for your strengths. We’ll raise that baby together.’ ”

FUNDS PRAISER. “Success for me will be making sure the university has a large enough endowment that it will be around for the next 100 years,” she says.