Students, faculty, and members of the community gathered in the Occhiato Ballroom Sept. 9, 2025 for an empowering keynote message from Anna Escobedo Cabral, former US treasurer from 2004-2008. The luncheon was opened with performances by CSU Pueblo’s Ballet Folklorico dance group and remarks from Interim President Rico Munn.
Cabral addressed the audience, recounting her early childhood, a time before SNAP assistance was distributed on a debit card, and families were given bare minimum staples, like powdered milk, to make ends meet. She used school as a way to distract herself from the trouble at home until she reached an age where those responsibilities rested on her shoulders as well.
If it hadn’t been for a special teacher who urged her to seek higher education, despite the odds, her education would’ve stopped in high school. A teacher Cabral refers to as “Mr. Lamb” convinced her to fill out an application for the University of California in Santa Cruz (UCSC). She then had to convince her parents that it was the appropriate decision for their future. Both her mother and father were diagnosed with serious health conditions; her support had been crucial.
Education has remained at the front of her ideologies, “Education is the greatest equalizer in our society,” said Cabral. “We will not succeed unless we are educated.”
Cabral went on to graduate from UCSC as a political science major and finished her master’s at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She told the audience of her experiences attending law school with all of her children, especially her youngest. She explained that he loved to ask questions in open discussions and noted how remarkably relative they were to the coursework; he later went on to graduate as a nuclear engineer from New York Institute of Technology.
After long and rigorous days of leaving the house at 7 a.m. and returning after 10 p.m. she graduated with a masters degree in public administration. In the following years Cabral found herself president and CEO of the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility before moving on to work with the Smithsonian Institution’s Center for Latino Initiatives advocating for Latino representation in exhibits across the nation. It was there that she received an important phone call from the office of President George W. Busch requesting her service as US treasurer.
It took 6 months and several calls that initially ended in her denial of the offer before she was convinced that she was the woman they needed. Cabral noted that she had recommended several she had felt were more suited for the position, all whom they could not justify as more fit.
Cabral was confirmed by the Senate Nov. 20, 2004. Despite all of her qualifications it took time for her to accept that she was capable.
“Each time I felt unprepared,” she said, recounting that time and all of the others that she had to push herself closer to the capability of success that other people had seen within her, despite the fear.
Cabral now spends a significant amount of her time helping younger people on their paths towards success especially with financial literacy. Learning financial management skills had slipped away as her family was focused on surviving. That, among other things, was something that she said she had to hold herself responsible for learning as an adult, and she did not mention it without acknowledging the importance of having supporting roles in your life.
She finished by telling more stories of helping her dad in the yard gathering copper to recycle, or making tamales to sell to local restaurants, anything that would provide for their family. The message was embedded with strong encouragement to work hard and fight for yourself and others, taking opportunities to be the influence in the world that “Mr. Lamb” was for her.
Chris Beltran, director of Hispanic Serving Institution Initiatives, closed the luncheon expressing gratitude for Cabral and celebrating her valor.
“I think her story represents the three ‘C’s,” Beltran said. “Courage, Community, and Cariño.”
