Candise Nacole M. Lizama Aragon

Candise Nacole M. Lizama Aragon Grant Specialist Guam State Clearinghouse Office of the Lieutenant Governor

Candise Nacole M. Lizama Aragon is the daughter of Mark Anthony Gumataotao Lizama and Celeste Ann Santos Lizama. Candise is the granddaughter to Defunto Pedro “Pete” Leon Guerrero Santos and Rosario San Nicolas Santos (Familian Maca of Chalan Pago) and Juan Cruz Lizama and Ana Gumataotao Lizama (Familian Kondo of Mangilao/Barrigada)(adopted paternal grandparents) and Teresita Fejeran Iriarte Dungca of Tumon (biological grandmother). Candise married Aaron Teriong Aragon of Santa Monica, California.

She is a Grant Specialist in the Guam State Clearinghouse, under the Office of the Lieutenant Governor, where she oversees compliance between federal grantors and their local entities equated to hundreds of millions of dollars in the areas of infrastructure, administration, legal, economy and military for the Government of Guam. Candise’s most recent accomplishment was securing $720 thousand in competitive federal funding for digitalizing the Office of the Governor’s records and converting microfilm and microfiche files to digital format for record retention. In addition to the securing of funding she is now managing a total of $2,607,000 in technical assistance funding. Her most recent projects are to seek funding and a strategy to address Guam’s Invasive Species, the Chain of Love (Kadena) and to seek funding and strategies for Guam’s Veteran State Home Community Project. In addition to grant work, Candise also has other duties inclusive of coordinating events and projects for the Islandwide Beautification Task Force (IBTF) and the permitting of the Great Seal of Guam.

Candise is a proud gecko for life, who graduated from George Washington High School with a concurrent Guam Community College Marketing Mastery Certificate. Her mastery certificate also included internships for high school credit at the Under Water World Guam and the Small Business Pacific Development Center. After high school, she proceeded to achieve her Bachelor of Business Administration, concentrating in Entrepreneurship from the University of Guam. Before starting college classes, in 2012, Candise interned at the District Court of Guam under the Chambers of the Chief Justice. In between attending classes at the university, Candise served as a Procurement Intern at Alvarez and Marsal, LLC (A&M, GDOE Third Party Fiduciary) in 2014 and worked at Ross Stores Incorporated, TuRe’ Café, and the Bank of Guam Mangilao and Harmon Branches. Since working at the Guam State Clearinghouse, Candise has received certification for Guam’s Procurement Technical Training in Modules I-IV in and a Verified Certificate of Achievement (VCA) for Academic Engagement in Public Policy with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MITx).

Although, Candise’s first government service was since her internship with the District Court of Guam, Candise felt the need to serve and experience the opposite side of the classroom. Candise kicked off her government career when she taught Guam History and World Geography at Tiyan High School, as a Limited Term Part Time Teacher, in 2016, immediately after completing her degree. She then became a brand manager and promotions coordinator at Micronesian Brokers where she oversaw lines such as Nestle, Abbott (Similac, PediaSure, Pedialyte, and Ensure), Gerber, Mauna Loa and Colgate. After venturing off and taking a break from government for brief period, Candise became a Grants Specialist at the Guam State Clearinghouse.

Candise’s interest for government and public service has grown and she has found her heart right here on Guam. Although, she had plans to seek further education away from Guam, staying on island and establishing a career and a life on island is where she has found her heart. In addition to her career work as a public servant, she also is a Government Representative on the Guam Workman’s Compensation Commission, where she aims at ensuring the prompt and accurate benefit of payments and appropriate service in order for individuals to facilitate their return to gainful employment.

Candise also serves an elected representative for the Ordot District of the Central Executive Committee under the Democratic Party of Guam and has most recently served under the Nominating committee for the Party Election in June 2020 for the Party State Chair and State Delegates to the Democratic National Convention.

Candise has served as a member of the Soroptimist International of the Marianas and the Rotary Club of Northern Guam. In her role with Rotary, she served as the board’s Youth Service Director where she had a hand in establishing multiple Interact Clubs at various private and public high schools. She was awarded Rookie Rotarian of the Year 2016-2017 and Rotarian of the Year 2018-2019. Although she is not an official member at this time, she continues to advocate for their purpose and missions and serves with the clubs occasionally.