Con Alma Health Foundation is honored to recognize Shelbie Corriz as our 2025 Hero of Health. Shelbie’s work reflects a deep commitment to health equity rooted in lived experience, long-term relationship building, and a belief that access to healthy food can transform lives and communities across New Mexico.
Shelbie’s journey with Roadrunner Food Bank began in 2017, when she became the organization’s first staff member dedicated to the Healthy Food Center. What started as a part-time role quickly grew into a vocation. Over the years, her work has expanded into statewide initiatives that blend nutrition education with traditional food banking, always grounded in listening to community members and responding to what they say they need.
That commitment is personal. Growing up in New Mexico, Shelbie’s family relied on summer lunch programs, and she saw loved ones struggle with chronic health conditions tied to limited access to nutritious food. For a long time, she believed illnesses like diabetes or heart disease were simply part of aging. Studying nutrition and public health changed that understanding. “I wanted to take what I learned and use it to help the community I grew up in,” she says. “I believe food can bring us together, and healthy food has the power to change lives.”
As Director of Health Promotion at Roadrunner Food Bank, Shelbie leads partnerships that reach communities across all 33 counties. Working closely with organizations such as the NMSU Cooperative Extension Offices, she helps bring programs like Kitchen Creations and ICANN to rural agricultural towns and larger cities alike. Through hands-on cooking classes, nutrition workshops, and “take and make” recipe kits, families gain practical tools and the freedom to define what health means for themselves within their own cultures, histories, and unique journey. “Everyone has their own definition of health,” she shares. “Our role is to meet people where they are and help them take the next step in a way that makes sense for them.”
At the heart of Shelbie’s leadership is a deep tenderness toward the people she serves. She often says, “Sharing food is sharing humanity,” a belief that shows up in the quiet moments she treasures most, conversations at food pantries, loading groceries side by side, listening as someone shares what they are facing. “That is when we really learn what they need,” she explains.
That attentiveness also reflects the spirit of New Mexico itself, a place where neighbors look out for one another and generosity is part of everyday life. “Part of health equity is preserving the beautiful culture we have here in New Mexico, where we help our neighbors and lift each other up,” Shelbie says. Through this lens, her work becomes more than service; it continues a long tradition of community care rooted in relationship, dignity, and shared responsibility.
Shelbie has also played a key role in reshaping how Roadrunner addresses barriers within food and health systems. Her work has supported innovative responses to food deserts, expanded multilingual nutrition education, opened a Community Resource Center, helped certify staff as Community Health Workers, and strengthened partnerships that now deliver groceries to more than 500 homebound households each week. “If someone cannot come to us, then we will go to them,” she says. “Everyone deserves food that supports their health.”
One story Shelbie often reflects on involves a woman managing diabetes while needing nutritional changes before surgery. With weekly groceries, cooking classes, and steady encouragement, she met her goals, completed her surgery, returned to work, and later became a donor herself. “It was a dark moment in her life,” Shelbie says, “but it wasn’t her whole story. We just walked with her for part of the journey.”
When asked what she hopes future health leaders take away from her work, Shelbie offers simple advice: “If you have a passion or an idea, go for it. Show up exactly as you are. Even if what you do helps one person, it matters more than you know.”
With heartfelt gratitude, we celebrate Shelbie Corriz as Con Alma’s 2025 Hero of Health, a leader whose compassion, courage, and unwavering hope are helping shape a healthier and more caring New Mexico for us all. She is building true health equity by honoring community voice, listening deeply to the people she serves, and ensuring that their experiences guide the solutions that support their well-being.
Share on:
