With Black History Month upon us in February, I find it a special time to honor and appreciate several African Americans' key achievements and impacts throughout our country's history. No matter your background, I believe we can all find motivating and encouraging lessons to learn from Black history that can help us create a better community around us with rippling effects.

As PNM's Low Income Outreach Project Manager, I am proud to work for a company that allows me to serve my purpose by directly helping customers who are struggling to pay their electricity bills. I am grateful and humbled to be their advocate. Although it hurts my heart to see so many people of color needing this assistance, it reminds me that I, too, can be a positive black leader within my community to help empower and educate all those I interact with about how to save money and energy - a necessity that we all need today.

Black History Month continually reaffirms that as a black woman, my "WHY" is to do my part in my community and the world around me by serving others in the best way possible. I am incredibly humbled and grateful for the efforts made by my Black ancestors, and to honor their lives and God, I do my best to help others have a better life experience in any way I can help them, even at PNM.

Whether you are Black or not, all of us face so many unexpected obstacles in life. That is why Black History Month is a beautiful time for each of us to be intentional about learning how the power of resilience, faith, and hard work demonstrated by Black leaders throughout history can help us overcome anything we also go through.

Ebony Vizcaíno PNM | Low-Income Outreach Project Manager