By Maria Carrasco, NASFAA Staff Reporter

For years, financial aid offices have quietly shouldered an ever-expanding list of responsibilities while operating with too few people and too few resources. That’s why NASFAA has designed and administered a program to help boost the careers and networks of emerging financial aid leaders. 

Since 2018, NASFAA has selected six financial aid professionals each year to participate in the Developing Leaders Pipeline (DLP), an intensive year-long program aimed at boosting leadership skills and supporting the next generation of financial aid leaders. The DLP aims to help NASFAA and the six regional associations develop a "deep bench" of talented, motivated leaders, and provide individuals who demonstrate a commitment to and/or potential for leadership within the organizations or their members schools, with support, access, and opportunities for leadership that they might not otherwise have. 

Benefits of the DLP include complimentary registration for the NASFAA National Conference, complimentary registration for the NASFAA Leadership & Legislative Conference & Expo, one free NASFAA U online course, plus the associated credential test, an assigned seasoned professional mentor, and much more. Details of the program’s offerings can be found online. 

Today’s News recently spoke with NASFAA's new Leadership Development Officer, Silvia Marquez, executive director of financial aid and scholarships at the University of California, San Diego, about her financial aid experience and background, and what she hopes to accomplish in this role. 

Could you tell us a little bit about your background in financial aid?

I like to joke that I've been in financial aid since the late 1900s. So I've been in education for 30 years and I've been in financial aid 28 of those 30 years. This is incredibly rewarding work. People have poured into me and I get to pour into them. 

I've held numerous positions in an aid office, from a front-line advisor to quality assurance when we used to have that program at the federal level, managing loans, managing people, and now I'm an executive director.  

I just appreciate this work. There's no question that this work changes a student's and potentially their family's trajectory. We're part of that. We help facilitate their success at our campuses, and it's life-changing. It's an honor and a privilege to get to do this and to have done it for as long as I have.

What are your main goals as NASFAA's Leadership Development Officer? 

My goal is to strengthen and expand the pipeline of our future leaders. I want to make sure our professional development opportunities, our leadership opportunities, are accessible, relevant, and impactful, regardless of where our folks are or what stage of their career they are in. 

It's not just about preparing directors; it's about supporting professionals to build skills, confidence, and networks. I think networks are invaluable, and so how can I do that in this role? Mentorship is a huge part of this role, and I think there's strength in sharing knowledge. We have an incredible community of experienced leaders at NASFAA, and I think connecting our emerging professionals with that group is critical, especially given how quickly everything is changing for us. Those are my main goals: making sure that the DLP is accessible, impactful, timely, and relevant.

What’s your vision for continuing NASFAA’s commitment to serving all members?

Our profession is incredibly diverse, not just in the people who serve students and in our students, but also in our institutions and the communities they represent. The vision is that regardless of, or inclusive of, the multiple institution types, the size of our offices, where we are in our careers, where we live, what our lived experiences are, we see the value in NASFAA's leadership and development opportunities, and continue to foster inclusive leadership conversations and create spaces where we can come together and learn from one another. 

This is mission-critical to what we do. The challenges we face might be different based on the type of institution or type of students we serve, but we have that shared commitment to students, and that connection  grounds us.

Why were you interested in serving as NASFAA's Leadership Development Officer?

It's been almost three decades since I've been in financial aid. I've been very fortunate to have tremendous leaders invest their time in me and share their knowledge. They've encouraged me and supported me. They've instilled the "why not me?” question. They've humanized the work for me. 

There's a student or family on the other end of every conversation we have, so that has really shaped and informed my why. Why do I do this? I think that as the leadership development officer, this is my opportunity to give back to a profession and a community that has given so much to me. Financial aid is changing so quickly, and developing strong, thoughtful, inclusive leadership has never been more important. 

There's no single path to leadership, it's important that we bring our authentic selves to the table and really highlight that there isn't just a single path. That kind of representation does matter in this profession.

Why is it important for NASFAA to have a program dedicated to professional development opportunities? 

Our profession is growing in complexity. Change is one thing, but when you add complexity to change, it's very different.

There are not just changes in how we're communicating with students and each other, but our institutions. We are being asked to be more analytical, to be more strategic, to be thought partners, and continuously develop and adopt. Having technical expertise isn't enough anymore. We've got to have all these other pieces, and not forget that there are people on the other end of every conversation. 

Having these professional development opportunities supports us in bringing leadership, communication, strategic thinking, change management, and collaboration. Having those skills – and frankly the interpersonal skills – all of that matters in the work that we're doing, and it strengthens our profession.

As we continue to bring in these emerging leaders and connect them to the community, it will  strengthen our profession and hopefully increase retention at a time when so many people are leaving higher education altogether. We need folks to stay committed, because we need to keep our students and our staff at the center of our decisions, and we need people to be prepared for that.

What struggles do you think the next generation of financial aid professionals face?

Melanie Storey says this, but it's not really unprecedented anymore. We’re way past that. There are complex regulations, technology is changing, and there are staffing shortages. People are leaving, and it's getting harder and harder to hire because of the budget struggles that many of us are having. The needs of our students are growing, especially as these federal regulations change and limit access to certain types of aid. So many of us, especially for me, rely on institutional knowledge. As people are leaving, and things are getting more complex, that is going to be a challenge that folks have. 

What do you think institutions of higher education could do to better support workforce development within their financial aid offices?

We have to remember that developing people is an investment. That's often what we say as leaders, many of us are in resource-scarce environments, or certainly environments where they're tightening up. We have to think about this as a long game. 

The other piece is how do we cross train our people? This has been a hot topic for us recently. How are we structuring our organizations to build clear career pathways? How are we demonstrating our own career path? There's not one path to leadership.I know NASFAA has done a lot of work in that space, and I got to be a part of it last year. 

Also what has been invaluable, especially the last couple of years with the implementation of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, was discussing how we create workplace cultures that value collaboration, innovation, and learning, so that people feel supported. Those are the kinds of things we should be discussing and doing because retention is going to be mission critical as we keep moving forward. 

How can NASFAA’s Developing Leaders Pipeline better help the next generation of financial aid leaders?

I got to meet the 2025-26 DLP cohort that just finished their year at the conference, and the thing that struck me was that they're all from such different types of institutions. They all had different experiences with financial aid and higher education, and I got to see them interact with folks from campuses and regions that were all different. For me, that was incredibly powerful because I don't remember having that resource when I was starting out. 

That piece is invaluable because I thought about all the people they spoke with – those institutions are all handling these complicated changes very differently. All of that matters. It speaks to how invaluable developing those professional networks is.

Publication Date: 8/5/2026

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