Leadership Santa Fe Guest Speakers

Roman Abeyta

Santa Fe County Manager , Santa Fe County
Roman R. Abeyta is currently serving Santa Fe County, New Mexico, USA as the County Manager. Beginning his career in local government at the age of 18 for Santa Fe County as an Animal Control Officer, County Manager is a title Roman never expected to have. After working for Animal Control for only 5 months, Roman joined the Planning and Land Use Department where he remained for 10 years, working his way up through the department to become the Planning and Land Use Director. He spent two and a half years as the Planning and Land Use Director before he was promoted to Deputy County Manager. In May of 2006, Roman was appointed, by City of Santa Fe Mayor, David Coss, to the City of Santa Fe’s Deputy City Manager position. Shortly after his appointment, Roman returned to Santa Fe County to accept the appointment as the Santa Fe County Manager by County Commissioners. Serving as County Manager has been more than fulfilling for Roman. He enjoys working for the public in the county where he was born and raised. Roman literally started from the bottom of the local government organization and rose to the top, and although his reasons and passions behind his decisions to grow in his career have changed, his hard work ethic has not. Roman is married and has five sons.

Val Alonzo

Director of Business Development Services , Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce

Stuart Ashman

Cabinet Secretary , State of New Mexico, Department of Cultural Affairs
Stuart A. Ashman is a well-known artist, lecturer and educator with more than three decades of experience in arts management. Mr. Ashman helped to found the Museum of Spanish Colonial Art in Santa Fe and served as the institution’s Executive Director from July 2000 through August 2003 when he was appointed by Governor Richardson as Cabinet Secretary of the state Department of Cultural Affairs. He has also served as Director of the New Mexico Museum of Art in Santa Fe and as Director/Curator of the Governor’s Gallery of the Museum of Fine Arts. In addition, Mr. Ashman was an Artist in Residence for the New Mexico Arts Division in the Department of Cultural Affairs. Mr. Ashman was raised in Cuba and moved with his family to the United States in 1960. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Photography and Fine Art from the City University of New York, and continued his studies in photography for several years following graduation. Mr. Ashman has been called upon by both the U.S. State Department and the State of New Mexico to serve as an expert speaker at a number of international seminars, workshops, and exhibitions. He has extensive experience working with the private sector to secure funding for museums and art institutions.

Wendy Blackwell

Technical Review Division Director & Floodplain Manager , City of Santa Fe Land Use Department
Wendy Blackwell was recently named Floodplain Manager of the Year by The New Mexico Floodplain Managers Association (NMFMA). Ms. Blackwell is currently the Technical Review Division Director with the City of Santa Fe and serves as the City’s Floodplain Administrator. The NMFMA recognized Ms. Blackwell primarily for her outreach efforts regarding the 2008 floodplain map up-date. They explained that the City of Santa Fe, under Ms. Blackwell’s direction, made the greatest effort state-wide to inform the community about FEMA’s changes to the floodplain maps. The City conducted interactive community meetings and did a mass mailing to impacted residents in order to inform the citizens about the map changes. Ms. Blackwell also coordinated the state-wide floodplain conference last spring and served on the Board of the NMFMA. Ms. Blackwell has 16 years of experience in floodplain management, conservation planning and community facilitation. She helped produce several public information documents on the “No Adverse Impact” approach to floodplain management. Ms. Blackwell also facilitated the Certification Board of Regents in the creation of the national Certified Floodplain Manager Program. She has worked for FEMA on flood mitigation and with the National Park Service Rivers and Trails Program assisting communities to achieve conservation goals. Ms. Blackwell has a Masters degree in Regional Planning from the University of Pennsylvania.

Rick Carpenter

Senior Water Resources Coordinator and Buckman Direct Diversion Project Manager , City of Santa Fe, Water Division
Rick, who has approximately 18 years of professional water resources experience, currently serves as Senior Water Resources Coordinator for the City of Santa Fe's water division a position he has held for about 5 years. He was the project manager for the City's recently completed 12-million-dollar Buckman Wells project, and he is currently the project manager of the Buckman Direct Diversion project. Prior to the City of Santa Fe, Rick was the Principal Water Resources Specialist for the City of San Diego. He also worked as a water resources Project Manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Rick has a bachelor's degree in Urban Planning and Development from the University of California, San Diego. He also holds a Master of Science degree in Physical Geography with an emphasis in water resources from the University of New Mexico and is defending his thesis this September.

Tom Chavez

Former Executive Director , National Hispanic Cultural Center
Thomas E. Chávez is a historian with a Ph. D. from the University of New Mexico. In December of 2004, he retired as the Executive Director of the National Hispanic Culture Center in Albuquerque. Before that he was director of the Palace of the Governors in Santa Fe, New Mexico for twenty-one years. He has published numerous book reviews, articles, seven books, and wrote a monthly Sunday article for The Santa Fe New Mexican. He recently helped the Museum of Spanish Colonial Art begin to raise an endowment and is currently consulting for the University of New Mexico Press and the New Mexico Women’s Forum.

David Coss

Mayor , City of Santa Fe
David Coss was elected in 2006 to serve as Mayor of the City of Santa Fe, the oldest capital city in the U.S. known internationally for its unique historic, cultural, artistic and creative heritage. Among Mayor Coss’ priorities is protecting Santa Fe’s water and environment. Mayor Coss considers supporting local businesses, the Santa Fe Living Wage Ordinance and affordable housing programs as integral to strengthening Santa Fe’s economy and supporting working families. He envisions Santa Fe becoming the sustainability and alternative energy capitol of the country.

Rebecca Estrada

Director of Recruitment & Dual Credit Programs , Santa Fe Community College
Rebecca Estrada is a New Mexico native. She graduated from New Mexico State University with bachelor's degrees in English and Women's Studies. She earned her master's at the University of Colorado at Boulder where she worked for eight years in recruitment and retention for students from underserved backgrounds. During her time at University of Colorado at Boulder, Rebecca taught college-level English, served as Program Coordinator for the Summer Multicultural Access to Research Training (SMART) program, and adviser for the Biological Sciences Initiative, as well as the NIH/HHMI Scholars Program for Diversity in Biosciences. Rebecca also worked as Program Assistant to the Director of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research's (UCAR) Significant Opportunities in Atmospheric Research and Sciences (SOARS) Program in Colorado. In 2005, Rebecca returned home to New Mexico and began working for Santa Fe Community College, where she currently serves as Director of Recruitment and Dual Credit Programs. Rebecca has established her career working with under-represented and young students, helping them make the leap into college and supporting their future success.

Shannon Gallegos

Director of Finance , Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce

Dr. Kevin Garrett

Chief Medical Officer , Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center
Dr. Garrett became the Chief Medical Officer at St. Vincent in November 2006. Among Dr. Garrett's many responsibilities will be mapping out a quality initiative agenda for the entire hospital.

June Griffy

Loan Professional , ELCDC

Randy Grissom

Interim Director, Sustainable Technologies Center , Santa Fe Community College
Randy Grissom is the Interim Director, Sustainable Technologies Center, at Santa Fe Community College. Randy is responsible for the development of all programs in the Sustainable Technologies Center, industry collaborations and equipment funding. Randy has rejoined SFCC for the third time. He taught the first class offered in 1983, helped develop many of the business and vocational programs in the early years, served as the first director of the statewide New Mexico Small Business Development Center, and served as the VP for Finance. He recently returned to the college after spending 8 years in the private sector working in the technology, agriculture and hospitality areas.

David Groenfeldt

Director , Water and Culture Institute
David Groenfeldt is the Director of the Water Culture Institute. Formerly he served as Executive Director of the Santa Fe Watershed Association from 2006 to 2009. An anthropologist, David received his PhD in 1984 from the University of Arizona, based on field research on irrigation development in northwest India. From 1984 to 1989, he was with the International Water Management Institute (www.iwmi.org) in Sri Lanka where he conducted research on water user groups in both large modern canal projects and traditional, farmer-managed irrigation systems in Asia. From 1989-94 David worked as a Washington, DC-based consultant focusing on social dimensions of natural resources management. Major clients included the World Wildlife Fund, World Resources Institute, and ARD, Inc. In 1994, David took an assignment with the World Bank to lead a new program on “participatory irrigation management" (PIM). He conducted workshops and training seminars on irrigation policies in general, and PIM in particular, in Mexico, Turkey, India, Pakistan, Morocco, Indonesia, and Japan. The focus on participation in irrigation expanded into broader issues of irrigation policy. David organized the sessions on “water for food” at the World Water Forum in The Hague in 2000, and organized an international conference of watershed-based development at the World Bank that same year.

Bobbie Gutierrez

Superintendent of Schools , Santa Fe Public Schools
Bobbie J. Gutierrez is the Superintendent for the Santa Fe Public Schools, one of the largest and most diverse school districts in the state of New Mexico. Santa Fe Public Schools has approximately 12,500 K-12 students, 28 facilities and an operational budget of approximately 91 million dollars per year. Bobbie was named Superintendent in February 2008 and began her duties on July 1. Bobbie had been the Deputy Superintendent since 2005. As Deputy Superintendent, Bobbie was responsible for district operations and supervised Human Resources, General Services, Transportation, Student Nutrition, Property Management, and Construction. She also was also the district representative for any matters involving litigation and served as the district's lead negotiator for collective bargaining. She was Associate Superintendent for Instructional Support from 2002-2005, and prior to that served as an elementary school principal at E.J. Martinez Elementary Schools and Sweeney Elementary School. She was also the director of Curriculum and Instruction and served for many years as a middle school teacher teaching language arts, publications, and photo-journalism. As Superintendent, Bobbie directly oversees Human Resources and the Community Services office as well as her Executive Team which is composed of the Deputy Superintendent, Associate Superintendent, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Operations Officer. Known as a highly visible and approachable leader, Bobbie has made a career-commitment to the Santa Fe Public Schools where she has spent the past 24 years of her career advocating for equity, literacy, school readiness, school improvement, and overall improvement of teaching and learning in Santa Fe.

Gary Harris MD

Medical Director , La Familia Medical Center
Dr. Harris is an internist. He served 9 years in the air force, 24 years at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, Texas, and has been with La Familia Medical Center 7 years.

Kathleen Holian

County Commissioner , Formerly with Los Alamos National Labs
County Commissioner Kathy Holian was elected as Santa Fe County Commissioner for District 4 in November. A County resident for the past 25 years, she was a Computational Physicist at Los Alamos Lab until last January. Today she continues to serve there as a retired Guest Scientist. Commissioner Paul Campos appointed her to the County Development Review Committee in 2001 where she has been making land use recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners. She has long been a proponent of the New Urbanist model of clustered development and infill. Mrs. Holian and her husband Brad reside in Sunlit Hills near Seton Village with their two horses and four dogs.

Ron Liss

VP of Academic & Student Affairs , Santa Fe Community College
Liss began his career as a high school teacher in the 1970s in Baltimore County, Md. He went on to work as a college instructor and department and division chair at Catonsville Community College in Baltimore County and served as director of instructional technology at the Community Colleges of Baltimore County. Before taking his current post, he worked at Montgomery College as a dean and also as director of distance learning and academic innovation. Liss holds extensive experience in academic leadership, distance learning, professional development and the application of educational technologies. After earning a bachelor’s degree in industrial arts education at State University College of New York at Buffalo, Liss went on to earn a master’s degree in instructional design from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and later a Ph.D. in education from American University in Washington D.C. In addition to giving numerous presentations on technology in education, he also speaks about expanding opportunities for transfer students and about faculty professional development. Liss said he can help make SFCC’s support services more accessible and part of students’ every-day experiences at the college.

Tina Ludutsky-Taylor

Special Assistant to the President , Santa Fe Community College
Tina Ludutsky-Taylor, PhD is Special Assistant to the President at SFCC. Ludutsky-Taylor is a founding staff member of SFCC who served in various roles from 1983 to 1991. She served as a vice president of Front Range Community College’s Boulder County Campus in Longmont, Colo., and as a founding administrator of Sierra Community College District’s Nevada County Campus in Grass Valley, Calif. Her background includes positions as counselor, faculty member, chief student services officer, academic/technical program division head, chief instructional officer, and chief facilities and construction officer.

Larry Martinez

Director , Presbyterian Medical Services - North Central Region
Larry Martinez is a native of northern New Mexico. He retired in 1999 after 27 years of state government service. Among the positions he held were those of deputy director of the Governor’s Office of Community Affairs (1975-1982), Chairman of the Governor’s Advisory Council on Alcoholism (1973) and Adoptions Manager for the Human Services Department (1982-1983). He also served as the first director of Project Forward, a food stamp employment and training program for the Human Services Department (1987-1988) and the coordinator for Project Mainstream, a Welfare Reform Initiative (1988). He was the deputy director of the Medical Assistance Division (1990-1995), responsible for administering the Medicaid Program in New Mexico. He also served as the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Health (1995-98) and Deputy Secretary of the Human Services Department (1998-99). He was appointed to be the procurement manager for the Medicaid Managed Care Procurement in 1996-97. His other government related appointments include: member of the National Governor’s Association Long-Term Care Work Group (1989-1990) and chairman of the National Governor’s Association Uninsured and Cost Containment Work Group (1989-1990). He served as the director of the behavioral health care coordination center for Presbyterian Medical Services (PMS) for a year before assuming the position of director of the North Central Region, responsible for oversight of all PMS services provided in Rio Arriba, Taos and Santa Fe Counties. In October 2008, he was appointed to serve on the Christus-St. Vincent Regional Medical Center Board of Directors.

Dr. Melville Morgan

Associate Superintendent of Public Schools , Santa Fe Public Schools
Dr. Melville (Mel) Morgan joined Santa Fe Public Schools in February of 2006. Dr. Morgan came to SFPS from Las Cruces Public Schools where he served as Director of Data Management. He also previously served as Assistant Superintendent for Accountability and Information Systems for the New Mexico State Department of Education, where he developed the accountability system for the State of New Mexico to meet the No Child Left Behind requirements. Dr. Morgan is also noted for his work at the Gadsden Independent School District in Anthony, New Mexico, where he coordinated data collection efforts and provided direction to that district in improving student achievement. He has also held administrative posts and university-level teaching positions in New Mexico and Texas, and began his career in education as a classroom math teacher in El Paso. Dr. Morgan holds a Doctoral degree in Educational Administration from New Mexico State University and an M.Ed. and B.A. from University of Texas at El Paso.

Kate Noble

Economic Development Specialist , City of Santa Fe
Kate Noble is the Special Projects Administrator for the city of Santa Fe’s Economic development Division. Along with trying to figure out what the job title means, she focuses on workforce development and works on projects to help diversify Santa Fe’s economy. Having grown up in Santa Fe, Kate left after graduating from Santa Fe High and went to Columbia College in New York City. She lived in New York for ten years after college and worked as a television producer and reporter for the BBC covering business and economic news for BBC World.

Sarah Noss

Executive Director , Santa Fe Farmers’ Market Institute
Sarah Noss is a native of Santa Fe. After graduating from Stanford University, she returned to Santa Fe, where she worked for many years in advertising as vice president of Creative Images. After a brief stint in Paris, she ended up in Chicago for almost a decade where she worked in advertising and promotions in the publishing industry. She returned to Santa Fe in the early 90s and started working for a variety of nonprofits as a writer, consultant, fundraiser and grant writer. Formerly, she was the interim director and grant writer at the St. Vincent Hospital Foundation and was responsible for raising the money for the Healing Garden at the Cancer Treatment Center and for creating and funding the Doula Program of childbirth assistants. She helped to fund the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner unit at the hospital and worked on the capital campaign for the renovation of the OB/GYN unit. After the hospital, Sarah was the development director at Cornerstones Community Partnerships, an historic preservation nonprofit that worked in small villages and pueblos throughout New Mexico, and since July 2005 has been the executive director of the Santa Fe Farmers' Market Institute.

Sheila Ortego

President , Santa Fe Community College
Dr. Sheila Ortego, Ph.D currently serves as President of Santa Fe Community College (SFCC) in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She also played a key role in development of the college’s new fundraising arm, the GROW Foundation, and served as its founding president. Dr. Ortego has a long and distinguished record of achievement at SFCC and more than 20 years of service in various roles, as a faculty and staff member, and in senior management roles. She has headed up several accreditation and reaccreditation efforts, has led the institution’s successful applications to AQIP and Quality New Mexico, and serves on a national accreditation board for the medical profession. Dr. Ortego’s work has resulted in numerous successful community partnerships focused on economic development, and her track record in major fundraising is particularly significant, for workforce training, distance learning and other initiatives. Her special interests are in student outcomes, technical training, distance education, faculty/staff development, and institutional climate. She is now engaging the college in building and development of a Health and Sciences Facility as well as a Trades and Advanced Technology Center (ATC). A key component of the ATC is the new Sustainable Technology Center at SFCC, which will focus on workforce training for the green economy.

Lee Reynis

Director , Bureau of Business & Economic Research
Ms. Reynis holds a B.A. (Economics), Mount Holyoke College, 1970 and M.A., Ph.D. (Economics), University of Michigan, 1973, 1976. She joined BBER early in 1998 as the Associate Director. She became Acting Director in May 1999 and was chosen Director in August of the same year. In July 2001, she assumed the additional responsibility of being Director of the Institute for Applied Research Services, the administrative umbrella at that time for BBER, the Division of Government Research, and the Technical Assistance Office, which no longer exists.

James Rivera

President/Owner , War Chief Enterprises
James is a Pojoaque Pueblo Enterprise Corporation Board Member & President/Owner of War Chief Enterprises

Tommy Rodriguez

Chief , Juvenile Probation & Parole - Dist. 1
Tommy Rodriguez is Chief Juvenile Probation Officer for District 1 which includes Santa Fe, Rio Arriba, and Los Alamos Counties. He has worked for Juvenile Probation for 16 years. Graduate of New Mexico State University and life-long resident of Santa Fe.

Melynn Schuyler

Executive Director , Youthworks
Melynn Schuyler, Executive Director M.A., LPC, is a NM Licensed Professional Counselor. She received her Master of Arts in Marriage, Family, and Child Therapy from the California Family Study Center in 1993, after earning a BA from Boston University in 1988. In 2001, she developed and founded ¡YouthWorks! to serve youth and families in the areas of emotional support, Life Skills, violence prevention, substance abuse prevention, and youth job skill training and employment. She furthermore, developed the Santa Fe Youth Corps within ¡YouthWorks! to address the critical need among high-risk youth to transition into productive and sustainable roles in adulthood. She provides supervised and paid employment and hands on training particularly in the areas of river restoration, city park maintenance, and community housing maintenance. Ms. Schuyler developed and oversees the on-site facility for daily GED training for high-risk youth. She is responsible for fiscal development, budget management, program development, contract negotiation and management, staffing coordination, and fundraising.

Duncan Sill

Economic Development Specialist , Santa Fe County
Duncan Sill is responsible for economic development in Santa Fe County and is actively working towards integrating sustainable solutions that involve balancing relationships amongst the natural and built environment, the inherent fabric of local communities and resources, and the multifaceted economics supporting these initiatives. Duncan has worked in diverse environments and industries that include corporate finance, social services, behavioral health, arts management and the government. He possesses over 20 years of extensive experience in financial, budgeting, strategic planning and administrative management and is familiar with organizational functionalities. One of the current efforts that Duncan is devoting much time and energy to is the creation of a renewable energy financing district which will provide and enhance the deployment of renewable energy improvements in the region.

Bianca Sopoci-Belknap

Director of Youth & Community Programs , Earth Care International
Bianca Sopoci-Belknap directs Earth Care's youth programming including the Youth Allies Network, Leadership Institute and Organizing Program. She also coordinates the Youth Advisory Board to the City of Santa Fe's Sustainable Santa Fe Commission and co-teaches a Green Collar Jobs course in partnership with YouthWorks. Bianca holds a B.A. from Antioch College in Social and Global Studies with a focus in Sustainable Economic Development. Born and raised in New Mexico, Bianca has been organizing around issues of social justice and sustainability in her community since she was a teen at Santa Fe High School. Before joining Earth Care, Bianca worked as an educator and community advocate for a number of organizations across the country including Global Exchange, the Border Network for Human Rights, and Del Pueblo Inc.. Most recently, Bianca worked for a Santa Fe-based organization called Local Energy doing research and political education for local renewable energy projects.

Anne Sperling

Employee Benefits Manager , Daniel's Insurance, Inc
Anne is the Employee Benefits Manager for Daniels Insurance, Inc. and has been since 1998. She has provided benefit and third party administration consulting services for union and non-union entities from 1 – 12,000 employees including the Public School Insurance Authority and the City of Santa Fe Fire Department. Anne was one of the founders of the NM Health Insurance Alliance and she served as the Executive Director for the Alliance from 1994-1998. The Alliance is a pilot health insurance program supported by the state legislature to increase the number of insured persons in the state. During her tenure at the New Mexico Health Insurance Alliance, she set up the benefit plan, marketing plan, the administration, the reporting to the state legislature and board of directors and insured just over 7,500 lives who did not have coverage before. She served on Governor Richardson’s Steering Committee to the Health Care Coverage and Access Task Force and on the Dept. of Health’s task force for Statewide Comprehensive Health Care Planning. She served as Chairman of the Insurance Reform Committee and Benefits Committee under the direction of NM Health Policy Commission in 1993. She also served as a member of the Cost Controls Committee and Reimbursement Methods Committee under the direction of the Health Policy Commission. She has served on various legislative committees since 1994 and regularly attends conferences in Washington DC to learn more about health care issues on a Federal level.

Keith Toler

Executive Director , Santa Fe Convention and Visitors Bureau
Keith Toler is the Executive Director of the Santa Fe Convention and Visitors Bureau. He has been involved in destination marketing for almost twenty years having directed the bureaus in Bucks County, Pennsylvania and Portsmouth, Virginia. He came to the industry from the advertising agency segment having represented clients such as Homewood Suites, Holiday Inn Worldwide, and the Tennessee Department of Tourism Development. Mr. Toler received a B.A. from the University of Virginia and an M.A. from the University of Memphis. He currently serves on the Boards of Directors for the Travel Industry Association’s National Council of Destination Marketing Organizations as well as the Travel Association of New Mexico and the City of Santa Fe’s Transportation Advisory Board..

J. Alex Valdez

President/CEO , St. Vincent Regional Medical Center
Formerly the New Mexico Department of Health Secretary, Alex Valdez is now the CEO of Christus St. Vincent Hospital in Santa Fe. Valdez has been the 248-bed hospital's general counsel and vice president of operations since September 2002. He currently oversees the hospital, two family practice clinics and the St. Vincent Physician Group.

Chief Aric Wheeler

Chief of Police , Santa Fe Police Department
Chief Aric Wheeler has deep roots in the community. His great grandfather and great uncles were founding members of the Santa Fe Fire Department, and Fire Station # 1 still bears the Wheeler name. Wheeler graduated from Pecos High school in 1990 and joined the Santa Fe Police Department in 1993. Wheeler has served the Department in many capacities, starting as a patrol officer before transferring to Police Community Relations where he taught the D.A.R.E. program to elementary school children. He continued in the Patrol Division as a Field Training Officer for a number of years, and then served as the Santa Fe Police Department’s first Recruiting Officer. After being promoted to the rank of Sergeant, Wheeler served in the Patrol Division, Police Community Relations Division and Crimes against Children Unit within the Investigations Division. Wheeler was also a member of the Santa Fe Police Department’s Special Weapons and Tactics Team for more than seven years, serving as an entry team member and hostage negotiator. Wheeler is a two-time recipient of the Department’s Distinguished Service Medal and has been involved in numerous youth sports activities serving as a coach and board member.

Gary Williams

CEO , Physicians Medical Center