Nicole P. Barraza is originally from Nogales, Sonora and is a graduate of Salpointe Catholic High School. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Wellesley College, and her master’s and Ph.D. from Stanford University in Sociolinguistics and Modern Peninsular Literature.

Prior to joining SALC, Barraza was an adjunct faculty member at Pima Community College. She is the member-elect for District 1 on the Pima Community College Governing Board.

Nicole was a member of the inaugural Civic & Political Leadership Academy cohort and is a 2020 Flinn-Brown Fellow. In 2022 she was selected by the Arizona Center for Civic Leadership at the Flinn Foundation to join the Fellows Council. Nicole also serves on the Pima County Commission on Trial Court Appointments and the St. Cyril School Advisory Board. She previously served on a magistrate merit selection panel for the United States District Court for the District of Arizona in 2022 and 2023 and on the Board of Tucson Young Professionals.