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Students, fellow Rio community members, lend us your ears! Rio Salado College launched a podcast today called Wave Makers where host Michelle Reese talks to Rio alumni, students, and other remarkable leaders to find out how education makes big waves in their communities. The first episode, “Defining Moments: From Adversity to Achievement with Beka Namachanja & Cordero Holmes,” dropped this week. Future episodes of Wave Makers will be released on a monthly cadence.
On the debut episode, Reese, Communications Program Manager at Rio Salado, spoke with Holmes and Namachanja in-studio. Both Holmes and Namachanja are familiar faces to the Rio community: they have been active PTK members, All-Arizona scholars, scholarship winners, and student leaders. They spoke with passion and sincerity about how learning at Rio helped them grow into the people they are today.
“I wasn't the person I believed I was when I was younger,” Holmes said, reflecting on just how far he’s come since he started continuing his education at Rio. The accomplished alumni got his start enrolling in a re-entry program while incarcerated. Like Namachanja, Holmes pursued certificates in Addictions and Substance Use Disorders at Rio before dedicating himself to completing a two-year degree program. He spoke candidly about how his commitments as a father made going back to school difficult, and how the flexibility of Rio’s online classes made it easier for him to be present in their lives.
Holmes is the Director of Operations for Progress Pushers AZ. He is the recipient of the ASU MLK servant leadership award, an American Association of Community Colleges 2025 alumni recipient, and is currently pursuing a dual masters program in criminology and criminal justice & public administration. His oldest son recently graduated from Maryvale High School, where his three other kids attend as two seniors and a junior.
Calling Rio Salado her “forever alma mater,” Namachanja talked about her enthusiasm for learning.
“I was just guns blazing, I needed to eat up as many classes as I can,” Namachanja said. She talked about the differences between community colleges and four-year schools, and how what she found at Rio was a level of care and attention from the college about her circumstances and hardships that she’d never experience at a four-year university. Namachanja shared that personalized support made all the difference for her as she completed her programs at Rio.
Today, Namachanja is finishing her neuroscience and philosophy studies at ASU while remaining active in the student community, just like her Rio days.
"I'm a forever Wave and looking forward to the future," she said.
This raw, heartfelt conversation promises to be the first of many mind-expanding conversations with the Valley’s wave makers. Keep an eye on our social media and our blog for more news about upcoming Wave Makers episodes.