New Mexico Foundation

We're excited to welcome three new staff members to the NMF team! Our Programs and Development departments are now fully staffed, and we're excited to more readily engage with our community partners across the state.

Here are some brief personal introductions from our newest teammates:

Inge Sullivan, Program & Community Outreach Coordinator

Inge is excited to bring her program and community outreach experience to the New Mexico Foundation. She looks forward to contributing to our mission of improving the quality of life for all residents of New Mexico. When Inge is not working, she loves spending time outside – paddleboarding and riding her bike are a few things that bring her joy.

Cailey Frase, Administrative Coordinator

Cailey is originally from Farmington, NM and now lives in Albuquerque. She is Tódích’íí’nii (Bitterwater Clan), born for Bilagaána (Anglo). Her maternal grandfather was Deeshchiini (Start of the Red Streaked People Clan), and her paternal grandfather was Bilagaána (Anglo). She is looking forward to using her years of administrative and customer service experience to help at the Foundation, and looks forward to getting to know all our colleagues, guests, and friends. She loves being with her family and friends and is an avid Funko Pop collector.

Sam Roy, Marketing & Data Management Coordinator

Sam has worked in communications, operations, and data management roles within the community agriculture and public education sectors, and looks forward to collaborating with NMF partners across the state to help share stories of their work and communities. After growing up in the northernmost reaches of Michigan with 5-6 annual months of snow, Sam is thoroughly enjoying the sunny, dry climate and desert ecosystems of New Mexico.

We all look forward to getting to know and work with our diverse constituents and partners!

May 3rd, 2023 marks the anniversary of New Mexico Foundation's official incorporation as the only statewide community foundation! NMF's work began over 40 years ago to address the immense gap in infrastructural and economic development throughout rural New Mexico, especially amongst working-class Nuevo Méxicano and Native American communities. By pooling charitable contributions from local donors as well as nationwide philanthropic organizations, NMF's early work focused on issuing grants to rural development projects for towns, municipalities, and communities that were not large enough to establish their own foundations.

We hosted our 40th Anniversary Kick-Off Celebration on April 19th in Santa Fe at the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture. President & CEO JoAnn Melchor and various guest speakers addressed the crowd, reflecting on our 40+ years of trust-based, grassroots, rural-focused community philanthropy. Guests enjoyed socializing with friends new and old, the lovely views from atop Museum Hill, and delicious fruit pies and Jemez enchiladas courtesy of Flo Yepa & Adriana Loretto catering!

Gathering and reflecting with our partners, constituents, friends, and community members that span across four decades has been a wonderful experience, and in honor of this momentous occasion, we are excited to announce the release of our new history booklet New Mexico Foundation, 1983-2023: Celebrating 40 Years of Statewide Community Philanthropy.

The NMWEI program will develop a statewide network of nonprofit and community leaders from equity-driven organizations, who collaborate to:

• Establish a workers rights ecosystem that acknowledges, understands, and supports economic security for Black, Indigenous, and other BIPOC workers.
• Build the capacity of workplace service providers and workers rights advocates to better serve marginalized communities.
• Develop concrete policy recommendations and strategy for workforce systems change, with increased and more effective organizing and advocacy within state, city, county, and tribal governments, and
• Engage in workforce advocacy on a federal level to ensure a New Mexico voice and perspective.

We're excited to announce that our 2021 Annual Report (link) received an American Advertising Federation Silver ADDY Award for Best Online/Interactive publication!

The digital report is a beautifully-designed, immersive online experience featuring the art of renowned artist and professor Melanie Yazzie - most prominantly featuring the piece featured above, Always There. Melanie is represented by Glenn Green Galleries in Tesuque - you can view more of her work on their website (link) and on Instagram @artistmelanieyazzie (link).