Mr. Francis Vigil is from the Pueblo of Zia in New Mexico. He is also from the Pueblo of Jemez and Jicarilla Apache. Currently, Mr. Vigil is proud to serve the communities and Pueblos of the Bernalillo Public School District as the Indian Education Director. Mr. Vigil is also the owner of Vigilant Consulting which provides educational consulting in Native American education to tribes and tribal stakeholders. Previously, he served as the Tribal Education Specialist for the National Indian Education Association. Mr. Vigil served as the Educational Specialist for Culture, History, and Language for the Bureau of Indian Education under the U.S. Department of Interior. In addition, Mr. Vigil has served as a high school science teacher and as an educational administrator at the school, school district, state, and federal levels. In addition to serving on the Parents and Teachers Board of Directors, Mr. Vigil also served as the commissioner for the State of New Mexico’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing Commission, and he currently serves on Google’s Education Equity Board. He recently served as the President of the New Mexico Tribal Language Consortium. Mr. Vigil’s areas of expertise and concentration are in Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Education, Community-based Education, and Indigenous Methods, Methodology, and Pedagogy. He utilized those areas to intersect with his social justice work, which includes diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. Mr. Vigil continues to be engaged in the realization of educational sovereignty for Native American communities, Pueblos, and Tribes.

Mr. Vigil holds a B.S. in Microbiology from New Mexico State University, an M.A. in Secondary Education from the University of New Mexico, and is continuing his work on a Ph.D. in Social Justice with a focus on educator identity and social-emotional learning in Native American educational systems. 

Mr. Vigil is a husband, and has a blended family of seven children. He is a proud “girl dad” to four beautiful daughters, Aliyah, Maya, Bria, and Sonyia. He is also the proud grandpa to four amazing grandkids. 

Jared comes from the Pueblo of Jemez and the Zuni Tribe. While he does not yet speak his Native languages fluently, he encourages youth in our schools to be proud of their people and to use their language every day. He supports the district as a Coordinator for the Indian Education Department. In this role he proudly serves our partners among the Pueblos of Cochiti, Kewa, San Felipe, Santa Ana, Sandia, Zia and Jemez.

He is excited about helping schools design nurturing environments where students feel good about school because of the trusting relationships they have developed with faculty, staff, and administrators. As a former student success coordinator in the District, he enjoys working directly with students and their families on college and career readiness and academic success. Besides his work within the Department, Jared mentors student-athletes as the Head Cross Country Coach of Bernalillo High School.

Outside of education, Jared has previously served as a field representative for a member of the United States Congress. In this role, he served as a liaison for one of New Mexico's U.S. Senators to Pueblos and Tribes, ensuring tribal governments had direct access to the support and advocacy of the office during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jared holds a B.A. in Native American Studies from Stanford University and is a proud alumnus of College Horizons and AmeriCorps.

Please reach out to Jared with your questions about getting your child involved in school/athletics or making preparations for college. Together, we can figure out ways to ensure your child has access to the very best the District has to offer.