Denisse Ortega Lorona is BRNs Education Director. She is from the port of Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico and has spent most of her life in the beautiful Sonoran Desert of Tucson, Arizona. Denisse has always had a passion for working for nonprofit organizations and enjoys working in ways that help to empower our Southern Arizona communities.
Denisse received her undergraduate degree in Political Science from the University of Arizona, and later returned to complete a Master’s in Development Practice from the UAs School of Geography and Development, focusing on nonprofit management and sustainability of natural resources. Denisse initially began her career working in social work and developed a passion for community education and collaborative work. Her career in leading education programs began in 2015 in social work, then continued at the University of Arizona contributing to the sustainability of gardens, public health education, and providing field experience for undergraduate and graduate university students as a lead educational outreach professional for UA Cooperative Extension in Pima County. Through learning more about sustainable gardening and agriculture and its impact on the environment in Southern Arizona, Denisse developed a passion for natural resource conservation, and joined the BRN team in March of 2020. Denisse relocated to the beautiful mountains of Rio Rico in January of 2020, and is excited to continue her passion in serving the borderlands community and supporting our natural resources in the beautiful Sky Islands.