BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Jesus retired as a Senior Manager of Division Business Operations (Org 10680/10690) at Sandia National Laboratories on April 20, 2021. Jesus was at Sandia 20+ years, 17 of those in Leadership roles and the last six as Senior Manager. Prior to joining Sandia, Jesus worked for several large companies including Siemens, Bank of America, Motorola and Honeywell with four years in leadership positions.

During his career, Jesus established a reputation as a strong leader and team player who built consensus on key decisions and insured timely results. He was adept at building strong teams as well as nurturing and developing talent. This was clearly evident in his role as Senior Manager as he established trust-based relationships with his managers, staff and customers. This led to a highly functioning team that provided exceptional customer support. In addition, his leadership of the Business Staffing Team resulted in the recruitment and hiring of top talent ensuring the continuous improvement of the labs business support and securing its future business leadership. Jesus supported various program and functional organizations while at Sandia including Neutron Generators Manufacturing Accounting, SWPR (DSW) Program, Executive Office, Payroll and Division 3000.  Jesus’ interactions as part of his Senior Management role include the Mission Enabling ALDs and Directors as well as Division 10000 Leadership Team.

Jesus has a BBA from the University of New Mexico and a Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership from Gonzaga University. Jesus is also a graduate of the Leadership Albuquerque Program and served as the Chair of the Hispano Philanthropic Society Council, a United Way affinity group. Currently, he sits on the board of the Albuquerque Collegiate Charter School and the UNM Anderson Alumni Council. In addition, he formerly sat on Board of Directors of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central NM

Jesus is a first generation American; his Father and Mother having been born in Chihuahua, Mexico and immigrating to the U.S. Jesus and his wife Gloria, a retired Registered Nurse, have been married for almost 48 years and have four adult children, all college graduates, and seven grandchildren, all future college graduates.

Liz serves as Vice President, Population Health and Quality of Presbyterian Health Plan.  PHP is a subsidiary of Presbyterian Healthcare Services, a private, not-for-profit, integrated healthcare system in New Mexico and the state’s largest provider of healthcare. PHP is the largest private employer in New Mexico and provides approximately 640,000 members with commercial, Medicare Advantage and managed Medicaid plans.

Liz has been with PHP since 2012 and previously served as Vice President of Behavioral Health. She brings more than 30 years of experience in healthcare, with expertise in quality, operations and government programs.

She serves as an appointed member of the NM Medicaid Advisory Committee and the Governor’s Overdose Prevention and Pain Management Advisory Council.

Liz earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from New Mexico State University and her Master’s Degree in Counseling from Eastern New Mexico University.

Michelle is a lifelong New Mexican. She grew up in Hobbs, NM, and attended New Mexico State University, from which she graduated in 1997 with a BA in Communication Studies. After a brief time living in Denver, she and her husband, Eric, moved back to NM and have lived in Albuquerque for 23 years. She has been committed to raising her family while finding meaningful ways to serve her community.

She served for many years as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for children in CYFD custody and foster care. Her role as a CASA expanded her understanding of the foster care system in New Mexico and the obstacles these children and families face. Advocating for children and witnessing their resilience in the face of tremendous challenges strengthened her commitment to being a voice for children and working on their behalf.

Michelle believes that every child in New Mexico is our collective responsibility and that AFCAC meets that responsibility each day with its specialized care and advocacy. She is thankful to be a part of this organization and hopeful about the meaningful change we can all create in our community.

Tim is a long-time Albuquerque resident with over thirty-five years’ experience within the Department of Energy national laboratories system.  He recently retired as the Chief Financial Officer for Argonne National Laboratory located near Chicago, Illinois.  Prior to Argonne, he was the Chief Financial Officer at Sandia National Laboratories. 

Tim has been involved in multiple non-profit activities including Chair of the New Mexico State University Accounting Advisory Council, Big Brothers/Big Sisters Mentorship program, Make-A-Wish, youth soccer, and other programs.  He is a graduate of the 2018 Leadership New Mexico program.

Prior to beginning work at Sandia, Tim worked for Deloitte in Tucson, Arizona.  He was a member of the New Mexico Society of CPAs, and obtained a Master of Accounting and Bachelor of Accounting degree from New Mexico State University.  Tim and his wife Debbie have three adult children and share grandparenting duties for three (soon to be four) grandchildren. 

As a homegrown New Mexican, growing up in Belen, NM, Arlene was led to her life’s work in Albuquerque during her college career at the University of New Mexico. After graduation, Arlene found her passion within the healthcare sector and service to her community.

Arlene is the Director of Development for The University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center. She has more than 11 years of non-profit experience fundraising in the unique landscape of the not-for-profit sector in New Mexico.

Committed to the betterment of her community, Arlene is honored to serve on the board of All Faith Children’s Advocacy as a trusted advocate for children and families affected by trauma.

Arlene holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and Women’s Studies from the University of New Mexico.

Brendon grew up near Fort Worth, Texas and moved to Albuquerque in 2015 following the conclusion of nearly eight years of active military service in the United States Army, during which time he was stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas and White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. Brendon also served three overseas tours in Iraq and Afghanistan as a military engineer, during which he supported infrastructure development projects, assisted local government, and led counter-improvised explosive device patrols.

Desiring to remain in New Mexico because of its natural beauty and unique culture, Brendon attended the University of New Mexico School of Law, graduating with a Juris Doctorate in 2018, then returned to active military service with the New Mexico Army National Guard in a non-legal position that same year, where he serves today.

Encouraged by organizational counsel to pursue licensure, Brendon became licensed to practice law in 2020. Perceiving a need in the community, he started a private practice that has since expanded to focus on helping under-served, economically-disadvantaged, disabled, and minority persons—as well as ordinary working people—in their civil law matters, for low cost or no cost. Brendon’s practice areas include tort law, business and contract law, consumer protection, civil rights, probate, and housing.

In addition to his JD, Brendon also holds other degrees from the University of Oklahoma (Bachelor of Arts in History), Western Carolina University (Masters of Construction Management), and the University of New Mexico (Masters of Public Administration with a focus on nonprofit management).

Brendon is pleased to join the All Faiths Children’s Advocacy Center in its mission of advocating for New Mexico’s children and families!

Heather grew up in northern New Mexico and has lived in the Albuquerque area for over 20 years. Heather’s formative years growing up in Taos shaped her interests and passion in health care, service to disenfranchised populations and empowerment of diverse communities. Heather believes strongly in ensuring everyone has a voice and a place at the table where important decisions are made.

Heather is a New Mexico-trained, board-certified pediatrician. She has worked at First Choice Health Care in Los Lunas, Lovelace Westside Hospital, and Indian Health Service in Shiprock. Before going to medical school later in life, Heather had previous professional stints as a nurse at Health Care for the Homeless and Taos High School, and an itinerate life as a military spouse and mother of two. She is a life-long learner with degrees from Yale University, Washburn University, Michigan State University and the University of New Mexico.

Heather currently works as a medical reviewer for Health Care Service Corporation. She enjoys world travel, adventures in gardening, and spending time with her family. When she isn’t out actively searching for the best local food experiences, she can be found in her kitchen trying out new recipes for meals, desserts and cocktails.

Rachel was born and raised in New Mexico, in the scenic East Mountains. As a Compensation Consulting Manager with more than seven years of human resources and risk consulting experience, Rachel provides extensive compensation planning services to both public sector and Tribal government clients, which includes FLSA classification analysis, job evaluation, market pricing jobs, and employee-specific internal equity/salary compression calculations.

Rachel launched her career with Poms & Associates Insurance Brokers, providing human resources consulting and risk management for their clients in areas such as HR legal compliance, job classifications, policy development and review, and learning and development. She worked specifically with the New Mexico Public Schools Insurance Authority (NMPSIA), which serves as an insurance pool for public school districts, post-secondary education, and charter schools throughout the state of New Mexico.

Throughout her career, Rachel has also worked with a wide spectrum of organizations in the states of New Mexico, Texas, and California in such industry sectors as education, healthcare, local government, construction, not-for-profits, and oil and gas.

Rachel holds a Master of Public Administration from the University of New Mexico, as well as a Bachelor of Fine Arts. She is a Society of Human Resources Management, Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP), a Tribal Human Resources Professional (THRP), and has almost completed her Certified Compensation Professional (CCP) certification.

Lisa has lived most of her life in New Mexico, mainly in Albuquerque. She is an engineer with a BS from NMSU and has been a federal contractor designing and managing facility projects for most of her career. Her engineering background is building structures, but she has experience as a project manager managing a full design team and currently works for a mechanical/electrical firm.

Lisa started volunteering for non-profits a year out of college beginning with engineering organizations. In 2006, she joined the Rotary Club of Albuquerque and started supporting causes that helped serve the most vulnerable in the community. She chaired the Community Service committee for the Rotary Club for two years.

Lisa has also served on the United Way of Central New Mexico’s grant committee for eight years, assisting with their community grants program.

Amir is a native New Mexican that comes from a diverse family and is passionate about helping her community to increase overall health outcomes and increase access to equitable care. She lives in Albuquerque, NM with her family. Amir has twenty years of experience managing government-funded programs for TANF, SNAP, Medicaid, and Medicare and advancing health equity in the community.  She has worked to support maternal child health initiatives in the state of New Mexico, decreasing maternal mortality and morbidity.

Amir is a leader in Quality Improvement and Population Health with over ten years of experience in managed care in New Mexico.  She is a board-certified Case Manager and a University of New Mexico alumni holding a Master’s degree in Nutrition, a Master’s degree in Public Health and is pursuing her doctorate degree in Public Health.

Paula is currently Co-Founder and President of NM-NEW – a new social profit working to engage retirees/near retirees into the community. Paula recently retired from Oracle after almost 40 years in the computer services industry, trained in project and risk management with Six Sigma and ITIL process certification.

While at Oracle she was 1 of the leaders of OPEN (Oracle’s global LGBTQ+ Employee Resource Group) for the last 5 years. She is also on the Board of UNM Anderson School of Management Alumni Council.

Paula is a native New Mexican. She earned her B.A. in Business Computer Systems from the UNM Anderson Business School.

Paula enjoys speaking/learning about all things leadership. She lives in Los Ranchos with her wife and two dogs.

Leean joined Fidelity Investments in August of 2008 and currently serves as Vice President of Public Affairs & Government Relations, overseeing teams in New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado. Her direct responsibilities include serving as the primary external representative for Fidelity Investments in New Mexico, as well as having accountability for government relations, community relations, and corporate sponsorship programs across all three states. In addition, she covers state government relations for California and Oregon.

Leean currently serves as president of the Albuquerque Forward Fund, board member of the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, the National Dance Institute of New Mexico (NDI), and All Faiths Advocacy Center and as an executive committee member for Albuquerque Regional Economic Alliance and the NM State Chamber of Commerce. She also serves as the co-chair for both Mission: Graduate and the Corporate Council for NDI. In 2017, she was recognized by Albuquerque Business First as a Women of Influence. She holds a BA in International Relations from the University of Delaware and an MBA from the Anderson Schools of Management at University of New Mexico.

Prior to joining Fidelity Investments, Leean was the Marketing Director at Dekker/Perich/Sabatini, the architecture firm that designed the Fidelity site at Mesa del Sol in Albuquerque. She has more than 30 years of government relations, marketing, public relations and business development experience in the southwest.

Stephen has been with HTLF/New Mexico Bank & Trust (NMB&T), since May of 1998, He currently serves as Senior Vice President, Regional Operations Coordinator with HTLF, the parent company of New Mexico Bank & Trust. Previously, Stephen served as Executive Vice President, Head of Operations for NMB&T.

Prior to joining New Mexico Bank & Trust, Stephen worked in several financial institutions in New Mexico and has over 35 years audit and operations experience. He received his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration with a Finance Concentration from the University Of New Mexico Anderson School of Management. He is also a graduate of the BAI School for Bank Administration at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin.

Stephen has been active in several community organizations, serving in various capacities, including The Make-A-Wish Foundation of NM, Easter Seals NM, NM Junior Livestock Foundation, Dominican Ecclesial Institute, Mid Rio Grande Chapter of the American Red Cross, and the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation of NM. He is a current Board Member at All Faiths, and currently serves on the Institutional Funds and Audit and Compliance Committees.

Stephen is a lifelong resident of New Mexico and is married to his wife, Sandra. They have two children – Matthew and Dominic.