Member Spotlight - Galactic Ambassadors

I’ll admit it, I did this one a little selfishly. Galactic Ambassadors is my group, and as I wrap up my time as the outgoing Membership Chair for ISC, I wanted to sneak in one last highlight that feels a little like home.

I’ve since moved to Virginia, which means I’m no longer at every match, every tailgate, or every late night tifo scramble. But distance has not meant disconnection. I still keep close tabs, I’m still very much in the mix, and I still care deeply about the direction of supporter culture and the decisions being made within ISC.

So, for this spotlight, I sat down with Jake Gutierrez to talk about Galactic Ambassadors. It’s a group built on community, creativity, and doing the work in ways that are sustainable and human. I’m incredibly proud to be a part of it, and honestly, I couldn’t think of a better way to close out four years of serving on the ISC board.

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ISC: What’s the story behind the name of your group, and when was it founded?

GA: Galactic Ambassadors was founded in 2022. The story behind the name begins in the section where our group started, in the upper deck of our home stadium, section 201. The idea was that because we are in the upper deck, we would be the first group that aliens would encounter if they descended to earth (hey, it’s New Mexico). We wanted to be great ambassadors for earth in the entire galaxy. No small goals.

ISC: What inspired the formation of the group?

GA: Three of the four founding members were former board members for another New Mexico SG, The Curse, RIP. We wanted to form a group that was solely focused on community action, social justice, and art/tifo creation. Each of us experienced burn-out during our previous SG work and wanted to prioritize mental health and preserving our precious, dwindling bandwidth.

ISC: How has the group grown or changed over time?

GA: The group has grown very modestly, but we’ve maintained our edict to encourage volunteering only when one is able and has the personal bandwidth to do it. This move towards self-preservation has probably extended the amount of time that many of us might have offered towards volunteering in local SGs.

ISC: Describe your matchday setup, where do you gather, what’s the vibe like?

GA: One of the decisions we made as a group was to not prioritize matchday and tailgate culture at every outing. Those days can be very long, so we target specific theme days like Pride, Meow Wolf Night, and Juneteenth. These games offer our members a chance to express themselves through allyship and art. Tailgate culture is very big in New Mexico, so our early presence at every matchday has never felt like a requirement for us to meet our goals.

ISC: Do you have any pre-game or post-game rituals?

GA: Aside from painting tifos until the very last possible moment, we don’t have any pre- or post-game rituals. When we do organize for certain pregames, we table up and have done know-your-rights cards in English and Spanish to protect Spanish-speaking fans from police harassment. We’ve also hosted alcohol-free art stations at tailgates and have shared resources to support women’s bodily autonomy and find local abortion providers.

ISC: What kind of outreach or community involvement does your group do?

GA: Our group has focused on using our small collective voice to affect change locally on matters that are important for New Mexicans and fans of New Mexico United. For example, we successfully protested a club sponsorship with Exxon-Mobil, a global extractive industry giant that has caused significant damage in our state. After our consistent and protracted protestation, the club severed their agreement.

We’ve also used our platform to support the USLPA and to support the U.S. Open Cup when MLS and Don Garber were directly inflicting damage on the tournament. We protested a USL Championship club who signed a player who was at the January 6th insurrection, and we also vocally supported the labor union for Meow Wolf, the club’s front-of-kit sponsor, who laid off dozens of New Mexican artists and employees.

Annually, we’ve joined forces with Black Diamonds and the Curse to raise thousands of dollars for the Transgender Resource Center of New Mexico during Prideraiser. We have also run a legal name change clinic for multiple years at Pride tailgates.

In 2025, before an international friendly with FC Juárez, we coordinated a solidarity march to the match in concert with the New Mexico chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, Santa Fe Dreamers, and rapid response volunteers to provide a safe path to and from the match for any supporter, including those who traveled from Mexico, in case of ICE or DHS activity.

ISC: How do you keep members engaged during the off-season?

GA: Our group is small and tight knit. We engage with one another in the offseason through our group chat and small hang-outs.

ISC: What’s one thing most people don’t know about your group?

GA: We started as a retirement home for ex-Curse board members.

ISC: What are you most excited about for the future of the team?

GA: We’re optimistic that we can maintain productive communication with the team on issues that affect not just fans, but Burqueños and New Mexicans at large. As the team continues to pursue a soccer-specific stadium in Albuquerque, there will be opportunities to apply pressure to make sure the stadium is as accessible and affordable as possible, and that inevitable revenue streams stemming from new partnerships are done thoughtfully and through local merchants, not unethical, out-of-state corporations.

ISC: What are your hopes for the supporters group as it continues to grow?

GA: To continue to be engaged when members move on from the SG or move out-of-state, and to remember the importance of local action when the global landscape often feels so incredibly, hellishly awful.

ISC: What would you like to see more of at the stadium or in the supporter culture moving forward?

GA: I would love to see more collaboration from groups on certain projects and a greater focus on community instead of a party or tailgate culture without community action.

ISC: How do you balance supporting the team with other aspects of your life?

GA: I don’t know that we have ever fully achieved this, but we work very hard to encourage everyone to share how much they can give. If they can’t give anything at a given moment, that’s ok. This work can make people run fast and far away from SG culture, so we try to be gentle with the number and level of asks that we make.

ISC: Anything else you’d like to share?

GA: Numbers don’t necessarily equal impact. We are a small group but have enjoyed seeing the positive results of different coordinated campaigns to affect change in our city and state. We don’t always make a lot of noise, but when we do, it’s laser-focused and purposeful.

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Galactic Ambassadors will always be special to me, not just because it’s my group, but because it represents the kind of supporter culture I believe in. Thoughtful, creative, values-driven, and grounded in community. Even from Virginia, I’m still cheering, still paying attention, and still ready to jump in when needed. 

For me, getting to serve on the ISC board for the past four years has been an absolute honor. I’ve learned a lot, met incredible people, and gotten to work alongside supporters who care deeply about their clubs, their communities, and each other. That work has mattered to me more than I can probably put into words.

This is a bit of a goodbye from me, at least in this role. Thank you to everyone who trusted me, challenged me, and laughed with me along the way. I’m incredibly grateful for the experience, and even more grateful for the people. I’ll see you all around. SOMOS UNIDOS!

RJ Montaño