Matt Ybarra | Program director

Matt is from the no-stoplight town of Altamont, Kansas (pop. 1000). He earned his bachelor’s degree from Stanford University in Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity. During college, he studied abroad in Switzerland, Russia, and Germany, interned at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, coordinated a scholarship competition for Latinx high school students and helped run the Stanford Powwow. Matt worked for seven years as an admission counselor at Stanford and Caltech before moving to New Mexico in 2016, to work in the College Counseling Department at Santa Fe Prep. He joined ROCA as the founding program director part time in 2021, and became its full-time director in 2024.

He often collaborates with College Horizons, the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, QuestBridge, The Gates Scholarship, and other programs supporting college access and retention for students from low-income, first-generation, and underrepresented backgrounds. Matt has served on the Rural and Small Town leadership board for the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), as well as the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access Committee for the Rocky Mountain Association for College Admission Counseling (RMACAC).

Questions? Email Matt at mybarra@rocanm.org