Advisory Board

Elaine has been involved in this work since the fall of 2012 when our grassroots organization, Banking on New Mexico focused on ways to keep public dollars working for us at home, so our communities and all our residents can thrive. Subsequent research in our state and around the nation has convinced her that, with persistence in holding to our economic justice vision propelled with solid research and education about the public banking alternative, we can create a vibrant, economically healthy New Mexico.

In 2017-18, Elaine served on the City of Santa Fe Public Bank Task Force.

She grew up in a small town in western Kentucky when small business was still the center of a community’s economy. Her father, a dairy farmer, taught her a powerful lesson when he set the family’s rules to buy only from dairy customers and from businesses providing local jobs. When Walmart arrived in Mayfield, he was quick to say, “this will be the death of downtown.” After her daughters were raised and she retired from organizational consulting work, Elaine’s deep passion for the fair labor movement and reviving local economies took center stage. She is proud to have helped form the Santa Fe PFLAG Chapter (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) and the groundbreaking Santa Fe Business Alliance, established to promote the importance of supporting locally-owned businesses and keeping more of our money circulating in our local communities. Elaine advocated for the Living Wage Network and was a founding member of WeArePeopleHere! in 2011.

Bob co-founded and retired from the Regenesis Group, a Santa Fe based international consulting company to developers, architects, civil engineers, planners and community development professionals and activists. Prior to moving to Santa Fe, his business background focused on infill real estate investment, development and finance, and as a relocation financial consultant to several Silicon Valley companies.

His public policy background ranges from international relations to environmental and regional planning, and he authored articles on sustainable community and ecological development.

He serves on the Sustainable Santa Fe Commission; on the Board of Jessica’s Love Foundation; and the Santa Fe Green Chamber of Commerce Board, and recently served on the City of Santa Fe Public Bank Task Force. In past years, he served as Chair of the International Rivers Network, was President of the Greenbelt Alliance in the San Francisco Bay Area; and is a former Board member of the New Mexico Association of Grantmakers, the Partnership for Responsible Business and a founding Board Member of Sustainable Communities, Inc. and 1000 Friends of New Mexico. He and his wife Pamela have been residents of Santa Fe since 1991.

Miguel Acosta is the Co-Director of Earth Care, a multi-generational community leadership organization in Santa Fe, where his current focus is propelling Santa Fe Mutual Aid – a collective of organizations that have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. Miguel brings more than 45 years of experience in advocating for educational opportunities and sustainable community development for underserved populations. He has been the Director of El Colegio Sin Fronteras, a Principal Associate at the Center for Relational Learning, a Community Health Promoter with NM DOH, a program developer at UNM, and has served on the Board of Education of Albuquerque Public Schools.

Beth Beloff is Executive Director of the Coalition of Sustainable Communities NM, an organization of local governments aligned around supporting climate and sustainability actions that help advance their local objectives. Prior to this role, she was Chair of Sustainable Santa Fe Commission which developed the 25-year sustainability and carbon neutral plan for Santa Fe in partnership with City staff and community members.

Ada graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a degree in social work. She moved to Santa Fe in the late 70’s and worked for Outward Bound, John Muir Publications, and The Santa Fe Catalogue. It was in Santa Fe that she discovered the cultural exchanges of ideas, through art, dance, and tribal ceremonies between indigenous tribes of Mexico and indigenous peoples of the United States. Over the next 17 years Ada hosted several Huichol and Tarahumara families in New Mexico and regularly traveled to Mexico, bringing food, medicine and supplies.

Craig Barnes’ vision of creating a Public Bank for Santa Fe, tying two powerful ideas together of creating a real sense of community and tangible economic justice, resonated with Ada. She felt a sense of calling to carry this mission forward, becoming a Board Member of WeArePeopleHere! The group’s focus on social justice through economic democracy resonated deeply with her values and desire to effect positive change in our community and the world.

Judy Cormier is a retired Banking Senior Executive with over 30 years regulatory compliance experience. She built successful compliance programs within two separate banking institutions and was Chief Compliance Officer/Director of Consumer Compliance for 11 years prior to Retirement. After serving on the Santa Fe Public Bank Task Force in 2018, Judy continued her involvement, as a member of the State Public Banking Committee from 2019 to present.

Harold Dixon, President and CEO of the State Employees Credit Union until mid-2021, retired after more than 27 years leading one of New Mexico’s largest financial institutions. When Dixon joined the Employees Credit Union, it had assets of around $50 million, which had grown to $850 million at the time of his retirement. His tenure leading the credit union also included the construction of a new headquarters Santa Fe. The Employees Credit Union, with nearly 50,000 members, employs around 180. Dixon also served as Board Chairman of the Credit Union Association of New Mexico.

Eric Griego currently serves as the Albuquerque City Director of Outreach & Advocacy and co-founder of SEED NM. As the former State Director of New Mexico Working Families Party, Eric is widely recognized for his influence on policy issues ranging from economic development to early childhood education at local to international levels. As an Albuquerque City Councilman, he successfully promoted a minimum wage increase and one of the nation’s first municipal election public financing systems. As Governor Richardson’s Assistant Secretary for Economic Development and as State Senator, he championed progressive tax reform, regulation of usury lenders and green jobs legislation. He led New Mexico Voices for Children, advocating for children and families. He has a Ph.D from the University of New Mexico where he taught and conducted research on economic development strategies focused on sustainable economic development, social capital and public policy. He is currently a consultant with the City of Albuquerque.

For 37 years, Kent Halla and his wife Martha have owned Sierra Vista Growers, an extensive and diverse farm and nursery in La Mesa. Regenerative agriculture, permaculture techniques, in house propagation system and clean energy are among the tenets of this business, which is fully solar-powered and soon will be fully drip irrigated. A restaurant and country store serving locally grown foods, herbs, flowers and other goodies is being added to the business.

A recipient of their investment in the local community is La Semilla Food Center, which received from the Hallas 14 acres of farm land, a tractor, farm implements and other materials needed to grow healthy, local food and teach regenerative agriculture and gardening.

John Hatch is the founder of Foundation for International Community Assistance International (FINCA). FINCA gives small loans to the poor to transform entire communities in a sustainable way. BrightLife, a social enterprise by FINCA, pairs access to finance with access to energy to unlock productivity and well-being for the poor, and builds pathways to financial inclusion.

Dimid Hayes has called New Mexico home for 38 years. A career in natural health allowed him to travel extensively around the entire state and see the incredible diversity of NM. He sees himself as a bridge person between Southern/Northern areas, rural/urban perspectives and progressive/traditional ways of thinking. He and his partner of 25 years split their time between Truth or Consequences and Santa Fe.

Isabelle Jenniches is a skilled community organizer who draws from her experience in policy-making and farmer-to-farmer education. She is Co-Founder of the Healthy Soil Working Group. An accomplished artist with a background in theater and design, she acts as the group’s webmaster and outreach coordinator. Moving to the US in 2005, she worked at a fifth generation family farm in California before coming to New Mexico. She represents the Working Group on the National Healthy Soils Policy Network and serves on the board of the NM Food & Agriculture Policy Council.

Pat Leahan is Co-director of the Las Vegas (NM) Peace & Justice Center, a nonpartisan, community-based, grassroots organization focused on social, economic and environmental justice.

Manuel (MJR) Montoya, Ph.D. is an Associate professor of global structures and international management at the University of New Mexico Anderson School of Management. Generally he researches global political economy and is concerned with how we make the planet a meaningful part of our social and economic realities and has published work on issues ranging from international trade to creative economy. He has delivered over 100 lectures across the world and is recognized as a leading authority in the burgeoning field of critical management studies. In private life, he has been an amateur watchmaker for 12 years, and is a published poet and short story writer. Dr. Montoya was born and raised in Mora, New Mexico.

Winona Nava has been President/CEO of Guadalupe Credit Union (GCU), a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), for 29 years. Under her leadership the Credit Union has grown from $10 to $200 million in assets. GCU provides products and services accompanied by one-on-one financial coaching and financial education in order to provide financial empowerment to those living in 7 counties in Northern New Mexico.

Before being named President and Chief Executive Officer of State Employees Credit Union in June of 2021, Andy Ramos’ career included nearly 25 years of executive leadership experience in financial services in Northern California, most recently as Senior Vice President of the Redwood Credit Union, in Santa Rosa. He also served his community on various boards including, Santa Rosa Junior College Foundation, Sonoma and Marin Chambers of Commerce. Andy served on the Economic Advisory Council for the Mayor’s Office of Santa Rosa CA, San Francisco Chapter of the Credit Union League of California/Nevada, and as President of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professional (NAHREP) of Sonoma County. He is the recipient of the 7^th Annual Spirit of Sonoma Award for contributions to the economic development of underserved communities in Sonoma County.

Wendy Volkmann works with philanthropists, finding organizations that match their vision for social and economic justice. Her interests in racial justice and climate change have led her to advocate for grassroots movement-building organizations led by the people most impacted by society’s challenges. While often the least resourced, it is impacted communities that best understand the challenges they face, the solutions needed, and that are the most dedicated to making change. Wendy’s delight is to link donors with values-aligned organizations.