Noemi Custodia-Lora
Dr. Noemi Custodia-Lora has been recently named the new vice president of academic affairs and workforce development for The Urban College of Boston. Custodia-Luna received her bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Puerto Rico before receiving her doctorate in biology from Boston University and then a fellowship program in cancer research at Tufts Medical School.
Custodia-Lora began her early career as an associate professor of natural sciences at Haverhill’s Northern Essex Community College. After ten years with the school, she took a short break before returning to the college as executive director of the Lawrence campus and the school’s community relations.
After her postdoctoral fellowship at Tufts University, Custodia Lora remained in teaching and youth-oriented positions as well as in public relations and communications-oriented roles.
As the vice president of academic affairs and workforce development, Custodia-Lora will bolster the college’s continuous development with a focus on meeting the educational and extracurricular needs of its student body. Specifically, she will play an active role in expanding programs geared towards multilingual students; one way she plans to target the needs of individual students is to create a holistic learning environment.
Custodia-Lora’s work within workforce development throughout the Commonwealth has reached past the confines of the college. She has been a part of initiatives across the state focused on bolstering education opportunities and work experience for aspiring members of the workforce without a traditional educational background.
Her work with the PIES Latinos de NECC program, which she founded, has supported immigrant professionals by providing them with the resources to validate work credentials. She has also been instrumental in developing an early college program in Haverhill and Lawrence that enables high schoolers to earn college credit while still in school.
“Urban College of Boston has a deep history of creating a supportive, inclusive environment for all learners, and it is an honor to have the opportunity to build upon that legacy,” said Custodia-Lora in a press release. “As an immigrant, I firmly believe in the institution’s mission of fostering academic achievement and economic mobility for Boston’s diverse communities. I look forward to collaborating with the dedicated faculty to expand opportunities that meet students where they are and prepare them for lifelong success.”
