James joined NM Voices in 2013 as the director of research and policy, becoming executive director in 2016. He also serves as an adjunct professor at the University of New Mexico’s School of Public Administration. In both positions he draws from his considerable experience in using the budget as a strategic tool while working in state and city government. James served as the chief of staff under Governor Bill Richardson from 2006 to 2008, and as Cabinet Secretary of the Department of Finance and Administration from 2003 to 2006. He was also city manager of Rio Rancho and serves on the boards for several nonprofit organizations.

Amber oversees the organization’s research and policy work. Her own research is focused on education, tax and budget, hunger, and economic issues. She joined NM Voices in 2012 as a Center on Budget and Policy Priorities fellow, after which she was a research and policy analyst and later KIDS COUNT director. Amber has worked in the public sector at the municipal, state, and federal levels, working in the government department at New Mexico State University and the budget department at the city of Las Cruces. She received her MPA from NMSU. Born and raised in New Mexico, Amber lives in Albuquerque with her husband and two young children.

Bill has been with NM Voices since 1998 and leads our legislative advocacy efforts in Santa Fe and Washington, D.C., working primarily with lawmakers on issues such as raising the minimum wage, creating a state-level earned income tax credit, expanding access to health care, passing the child helmet safety law, and the like. Bill is relied upon by many legislators for data and information relating to the legislation they are voting on or writing. He was appointed to Governor Richardson’s Equal Pay Task Force and his Budget Balancing Task Force. Previously, Bill was executive director of the HIV Coordinating Council of New Mexico.

Jacob works on NM Voices’ anti-poverty initiatives, including tax, safety net, and education policies through research and statewide outreach and advocacy. Prior to joining NM Voices, Jacob worked in advocacy and coalition building in Illinois and California on early childhood and children’s health issues. He also worked as a government relations representative advocating for quality subsidized child care in several Western states. Before entering public policy, Jacob was a social worker and educator. Jacob holds a BA in Latin American History from Pomona College in Claremont, CA, and a Master’s in Social Work from Loyola University Chicago.

Paige joined NM Voices in 2018 and focuses on tax, fiscal policy, and environmental issues. She received her BA in Economics from Luther College in Iowa and is a recent graduate of UNM’s Master in Public Policy program. Originally from Minnesota, Paige moved to Albuquerque in early 2017. Prior to moving to the Southwest, she worked at a variety of nonprofits in Iowa City and Chicago, including as an AmeriCorps volunteer for a year. In New Mexico, she worked with Accion and interned with the Legislative Finance Committee. Her experience with nonprofit and governmental organizations further developed her interest in public policy issues, particularly those surrounding sustainable economic development.

Javier joined NM Voices in 2019. He focuses on immigration, the U.S. Census, tax and budget issues, and criminal fines and fees. He was born and raised in Albuquerque, and completed his undergraduate education at UNM where he studied economics, philosophy, and statistics. After college, Javier worked for the state Taxation and Revenue Department, where he helped publish the state’s first ever tax expenditure report. He was selected as the New Mexico Fellow for the Institute for Policy Studies, a D.C.-based think tank. While in D.C., he conducted research on CEO compensation, immigration, and international trade. Javier served as a grant writer for the Center of Southwest Culture, which works to revitalize New Mexico’s rural economy by introducing innovative business models. He completed a Master’s in Public Affairs at Princeton University.

Lydia joined NM Voices in August 2021 as a fellow through the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Her focus is on state policies that impact Native American children, families, tribes, and pueblos in the state. Originally from Minnesota, Lydia worked with American Indian students who attended Minneapolis Public Schools, interned with the Minnesota Department of Human Services focusing on American Indian mental health policy, and has interned with the Bureau of Indian Affairs Southwest Regional Office in Albuquerque. Lydia graduated with a Juris Doctor and an Indian Law Certificate from the UNM School of Law. She also has a Master’s of Social Work and a BA in American Indian Studies from the University of Minnesota. Lydia is an enrolled member of the Oneida Nation (WI) and a direct descendant of the Red Lake Nation. Lydia, her partner, and their young daughter call Albuquerque home.

Divya joined NM Voices in 2021 and focuses on issues related to health policy. She earned a BA in English Literature and Psychology from Haverford College in Pennsylvania. After college, Divya became passionate about public policy while working as a behavioral therapist for children with developmental disabilities. She later worked as a community organizer to advocate for statewide housing reform. Divya holds a Master’s in Public Policy from the University of California, Berkeley.

Sharon joined NM Voices as communications director in 2006. In crafting and framing NM Voices’ messages and issues – whether in op-eds, press releases, newsletters or reports – she relies extensively on her writing/editing background. She worked previously as managing editor and featured columnist for the Albuquerque-based alternative paper Crosswinds Weekly and was a television news producer at KOAT TV, the ABC affiliate in New Mexico. She has contributed as a freelance writer to many of Albuquerque’s newspapers and periodicals. She has a BA from Arizona State University.

Alex assists the communications director by producing graphics and managing the social media accounts. He was born and raised in California and moved to Albuquerque in 2019 to complete his BA in English and Journalism at the University of New Mexico. Previously he served as the editor in chief of the Daily Lobo, UNM’s independent student newspaper, and as a freelance photographer at the Deli LA, a Los Angeles-based music magazine.

Farah joined NM Voices in early 2017, bringing with her an extensive background in nonprofit management, program design and evaluation, and fund cultivation, among other skills. She most recently held an adjunct faculty position at the SIT Graduate Institute as well as served as a strategic advisor to several internationally focused nonprofit organizations. Prior to that she was the program manager at The Institute for Inclusive Security, leading an innovative program in a conflict-affected setting to advance women’s inclusion in peace processes in Sudan and South Sudan. She holds an MA in Conflict Transformation from the School for International Training and a BA in Political Science from UNM.

Brian wears a number of hats at NM Voices – from managing the office to overseeing the donor database, helping coordinate and run our events, with a little graphic design thrown in. Brian first came to NM Voices as part of our Youth Link program, which trained middle- and high-school youths in the art of advocacy using tobacco prevention as a tangible issue. His bachelor’s degree is from the University of New Mexico.

Barbara joined NM Voices in 2017 after living in Kansas for many years. While in Kansas she was an administrative clerk for Westar Energy, assistant to the treasurer of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, and was a physical science technician and a natural resources administrative assistant for the Environmental Science program at Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, which is also where Barbara earned her bachelor’s degree.

Ken is a retired child and family psychologist. He has been on the faculty in the Department of Psychiatry at the UNM Health Sciences Center since 1978. He was Children’s Behavioral Director for the state from 1997 to 2005, and chair of the Children, Youth and Families Division of the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors. Ken served on the Rosalynn Carter Mental Health Symposium Planning Committee. He retired from the American Institutes for Research (AIR) in 2017 after having served as the lead disparities reduction resource with AIR’s National Resource Center for Mental Health Promotion and Youth Violence Prevention. Ken is the author of numerous articles and book chapters as well as being a local and national presenter.

Charlotte, from the Pueblos of San Felipe and Taos, is president and CEO of Little Strategies, an Albuquerque-based consulting firm. Her professional background includes service as: tribal administrator; human resources director; lobbyist with the Setter Group; and an ambulatory health care facility administrator overseeing health clinics in Albuquerque and six New Mexico tribal communities.  She is a member of the San Felipe Pueblo Health Board, which promotes, develops, and improves the delivery of health care services to the citizens of the Pueblo. Charlotte has served as director and president of the Board of Directors of Emerge New Mexico, an organization dedicated to identifying, training, and encouraging women to run for and win public office. She earned her BA from UNM.

Debra has worked since 1988 at Youth Development, Inc., where she currently serves as the vice president of Early Childhood Education and Family Development. She works directly with families of preschool-age children to create safe, healthy, and inviting centers for learning and development. Besides overseeing programs such as Head Start and NM Pre-K, Debra leads several early childhood projects that focus on homeless children, special education services, and family advocacy.

Antonio is a community advocate at the Partnership for Community Action (PCA), a nonprofit organization dedicated to building strong, healthy communities throughout New Mexico. Antonio communicates with PCA’s community during the legislative session, teaches alternative substance abuse prevention courses to high school students, leads interns during the Youth Employment Summer Institute, and orients new parents upon graduation of Abriendo Puertas curriculum. Antonio is also an actor, instructor, and academic tutor at Working Classroom, a nonprofit theater and visual arts organization. He studies public policy, community planning, and education as an undergraduate at the University of New Mexico.

Fred is a twice-elected former U.S. Senator (OK, 1964-1973), who served on President Johnson’s Kerner Commission in 1968. He is now a professor emeritus of Political Science at the University of New Mexico, where he also serves as director of the UNM Fred Harris Congressional Internship Program. He has produced 19 nonfiction books and is the award-winning author of three novels. You can watch a recording of Fred’s Aug. 6, 2020, talk on his role on the Kerner Commission, why its findings were ignored, and how they relate to racism in America 50 years later, here.

Ruth worked as an advocate in New Mexico for over thirty years. She began her work with Common Cause-NM working for ethics and government reform. In the mid-1990s, she worked for the New Mexico state Legislature as an analyst and staff member to the state Constitutional Revision Commission. Ruth was then program director at the NM Center on Law and Poverty for three years. From 1999 until her retirement at the end of 2019, she was the director of Lutheran Advocacy Ministry-NM, a faith-based advocacy office focusing its advocacy agenda on issues related to people living in poverty and experiencing hunger.

Yvette is the founder of A Paradigm Shift Empowerment Coaching and is a certified John Maxwell global team member, trainer, public speaker, and published author of the book A Paradigm Shift: In the Presence of the Lord! She earned a Bachelor’s in Speech Communications and Religion from Eastern New Mexico University. As a governor appointee, Yvette served nearly 7 years as the executive director of the NM Office of African American Affairs. She served 10 years as a state commissioner with the NM Martin Luther King Jr. Commission and 13 years in upper management with the YMCA of Central NM and YMCA of the USA. She has been an active volunteer with the Steel Bridge women’s rescue mission and sits on the boards for the NM African Black Birthing Coalition, March of Dimes, and Con Alma Health Foundation.

Danielle is a faculty member in the early childhood education (ECE) program at Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (SIPI). She also serves as project director and principal investigator for SIPI’s Restorative Teachings Initiative, where she has developed innovative practices and partnerships on behalf of SIPI’s ECE program. Danielle also recently contributed a chapter to the compilation “Teacher Education across Minority Serving Institutions: Programs, Policies, and Social Justice.” Danielle earned her Doctorate in Education from Arizona State University where she studied educational administration and supervision. She also has a Master’s in Education Administration from UNM and a Masters in Early Childhood Risk and Prevention from Harvard.

Newton, who retired from Intel’s Human Resources Department in 2013, still serves as the program manager and president of its Community Mentor Network (CMN). A program Newton founded in 2009, CMN mentors students at Cibola High School and UNM. Prior to his 18-year career at Intel, Newton worked for 18 years at IBM. He earned a BA in Psychology from the State University of New York at New Paltz, completed the Human Resource Management Certificate Program from the Anderson School of Management at UNM, and is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). Newton currently serves on the Deacon Board at Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church, and is part of the International Mission Team that traveled to Santa Dominica, Hong Kong, Belize, Guyana, Kenya, and Jamaica.

A native of Brent, Alabama, Olivia is an R&D S&E systems engineer at Sandia National Laboratories, where she is also a principal member of Technical Staff. In 2015, she became the first African American to earn a Ph.D. from the Materials Science program at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. As an advocate for children, education, STEM, and inclusion, she established the Dr. Olivia D. Underwood Scholarship in 2018 to help women of color be successful in STEM fields. During the summer, she serves as a volunteer instructor for the “Hands-On, Minds-On Technology” summer program for middle- and high school students. Olivia is also a published author and co-authored a paper titled “Mitigating Implicit Bias for Leaders” in 2019. Olivia belongs to several professional societies and has received numerous awards.

Rob is pastor of Second Presbyterian Church, a bilingual and multicultural congregation committed to ecumenical and social justice work in Albuquerque and abroad. He completed his Master of Divinity degree at Princeton Theological Seminary and Doctor of Ministry degree at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia. Before coming to Albuquerque, he served churches in Ann Arbor, Boulder, and Seattle, and volunteered a year at Presbyterian Church (USA) as a Young Adult Volunteer in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. Rob was ordained in August 2002 by the Presbytery of Plains and Peaks in Colorado.