SANTA FE -- Gov.-elect Michelle Lujan Grisham announced additional administrative appointments Friday at the Capitol. Here is a statement from her office:
“These individuals have demonstrated exceptional leadership in their careers,” Gov.-elect Lujan Grisham said. “Each has the right combination of diligence, experience and vision, and New Mexicans can expect them to elevate each of their departments, and I can’t wait to see them working.”
The governor-elect announced the following appointees:
--Alicia Keyes: Economic Development Department
--Ken Ortiz: General Services Department
--Marguerite Salazar: Regulation and Licensing Department
Alicia Keyes is the film liaison for the city of Albuquerque, a role in which she initiated and oversaw the $1 billion agreement with Netflix to establish a landmark studio. She established a workforce training program with both the University of New Mexico and Central New Mexico Community College and was responsible for all film permitting and recruiting. Since 2005, Keyes has been the chief executive officer and a producer at AJK Films, where she has developed, written and optioned original content for film and television while maintaining relationships with distributors, studios and agents. Beginning in 1998, she was the executive director of worldwide acquisitions for the Walt Disney Company, where she was responsible for the acquisition of theatrical motion pictures for distribution, including select and international rights for films under the Buena Vista International banner. Keyes has a bachelor of economics, politics and philosophy degree from Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, Calif.
Ken Ortiz is the administrator of business services in the Secretary of State’s Office, where he has served since 2011. As administrator, he is directly responsible for the Business Services Division, which includes business-related filings for corporations, LLCs, partnerships and more. He led the transition of the corporations bureau from the Public Regulation Commission to the Secretary of State’s Office. He was chief of staff in that office for five years, ending in 2016. Ortiz was Secretary of the Workforce Solutions Department from 2009 to 2010 and was deputy secretary in the same cabinet before that. In his lengthy state government career, he also served as the division director of the Motor Vehicle Division; and as program manager and senior tax auditor within the Taxation and Revenue Department. He has a bachelor of business administration degree from New Mexico State University.
Marguerite Salazar is the chief regulator of the state of Colorado, where she serves as the executive director of the Department of Regulatory Agencies. She oversees nine divisions and provides administrative oversight of the Colorado Office of Policy Research and Regulatory Reform and the broadband fund. She was appointed by Gov. John Hickenlooper in July 2017. Prior to that, she was Colorado’s insurance commissioner, appointed by Hickenlooper in 2013, regulating all forms of insurance in the state. Salazar also served as the regional director of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services in Denver, where she oversaw implementation of the Affordable Care Act. She has experience serving on numerous boards and panels, including as a trustee for the Temple Hoyne Buell Foundation and on the Colorado State University Board of Governors. Salazar earned an undergraduate and master’s degree, in counseling psychology, from Adams State in Alamosa, Colo.