Today, Governor-elect Lujan Grisham announced new members of her government transition teams. These teams will be responsible for providing the Governor-Elect with detailed reviews of the Higher Education Department, Public Education Department and Indian Affairs Department as part of the gubernatorial transition process. The Transition teams will engage with key stakeholders and current government agency personnel and provide detailed strategic recommendations on improving state government operations to Governor-elect Lujan Grisham
On November 15, the Lujan Grisham transition office announced the appointment of co-chairs to lead seven specific committees, each examining distinct areas of state government. Governor-elect Lujan Grisham named former New Mexico Governor Garry Carruthers, former Santo Domingo Governor Everett Chavez, and Principal and CEO of the Native American Community Academy Kara Bobroff as Co-Chairs of the Education and Indian Affairs Committee. The individuals named today will work with these Co-chairs on their Agency review efforts.
Below is a list of members of Governor-elect Lujan Grisham’s agency transition teams for the Higher Education Department, Public Education Department and Indian Affairs Department:
Public Education Department Team Members
Wendy Alberson, Educator, Las Cruces Public Schools
Ellen Bernstein, President, Albuquerque Teachers Federation
Charles Bowyer, Executive Director, National Education Association New Mexico
Joan Day Baker, Early Childhood Education Expert
John Dyrcz Political Director, American Federation of Teachers NM
Teresa Lynn Frasier, Member, Indian Education Advisory Council
Charles Goodmacher, National Education Association of New Mexico, UniServ Director
Matt Henderson, Executive Director, Organizers in the Land of Enchantment (OLE)
Maria Jaramillo, Executive Director, Central Region Education Cooperative
Debbie Leyba-Angel, Head Special Education Teacher, Lew Wallace Elementary School
Ruth Ann Litchfield, Mayor of Tucumcari & Retired Educator
Stephanie Ly, President, American Federation of Teachers New Mexico
Sofia Martinez, Special Education Educator, Rio Grande High School
David Morales, Educator, Las Cruces Public Schools
Sharmyn Munoz, Principal, Red Rock Elementary School
Allan Oliver, Executive Director, Thornburg Foundation
Jeremy Oyenque, Santa Clara Pueblo Director of Education, Early Childhood, Headstart and Youth programming
Mariana Padilla, District Director, Office of Representative Michelle Lujan Grisham
Betty Patterson, National Education Association of New Mexico
Barbara Perea Casey, Las Vegas Councilor and Former State Representative
Trina Raper, Recently retired from Santa Fe Public Schools, Emerge graduate; extensive
Shannon Rivera, Early childhood education
Arsenio Romero, Deming Public Schools Superintendent
Elaine Romero, Former Principal and School Superintendent
Edward Tabet-Cubero, Multilingual Ed, Teacher PD, School transformation, Policy
Victoria Tafoya, Multilingual Ed, Teacher PD, School Transformation, Federal Programs
Beata Thorstensen, District Data. Administrator, Rio Rancho Public Schools
Lillian Torrez, Superintendent, Taos Municipal Schools
Dr. Karen Trujillo, Director of K-12 Outreach, The Alliance for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning
Michelle Valverde, Education Policy Analyst
Jessica Velasquez, Former Educator, Albuquerque Public Schools
Higher Education:
Richard Bailey, President, Northern New Mexico College
Randy Grissom, Former President, Santa Fe Community College
Dan Howard, Former Provost, New Mexico State University
Daniel Lopez, Past President, New Mexico Tech
Major Lindsay Mayo Fincher, English Professor, New Mexico Military Institute
Bonnie Quintana Harbin, Career Technical Education
Dr. Carlos Romero, Associate Vice President of Research & Economic Development for New Mexico Tech
Joseph Shepard, President, Western NM University
Nasha Torrez, Dean of Students, University of New Mexico
Kathy Winograd, President of CNM
Richard Wood, Interim Provost, University of New Mexico
Indian Affairs:
Regis Pecos, Former Governor, Cochiti Pueblo
Gabe Aguilar, Vice President, Mescalero Apache Tribe
Conroy Chino, Legislative Committee Co-Chair, All Pueblo Counsel of Governors
Alray Nelson, Board Chair, Equality NM & Diné Equality
Paul Torres, Chairman, All Pueblo Council of Governors
Maxine Velasquez, General Counsel, Tesuque Pueblo
Alvin Warren, New Mexico Director, Kellog Foundation