Mark Bentley

Santa Fe, NM

Mark Bentley was born in Las Vegas, New Mexico in 1946. He was raised there and numerous other western U.S.cities, graduating from Roy J. Wasson High School in Colorado Springs, Colorado in June of 1964. Following graduation, Bentley attended Adams State College in Alamosa, Colorado for two years. From 1959 until after high school, Bentley worked in various radio and television stations, both on the air and behind the scenes. Bentley began in Radio in June of 1959 in Monte Vista, Colorado at KSLV – AM 1240 as an announcer. Since then, Bentley has worked in both television and radio both on a local and a national level with NBC News in New York.

Currently, Bentley is the host of “Dateline New Mexico” – a statewide syndicated political commentary as well as a series of daily New Mexico centric features also syndicated throughout New Mexico. He also is a recognized journalist covering the state Legislature and other political events.

Bentley serves on the Commission for Community Volunteerism and the Commission on Public Broadcasting.

Anthony Casaus

Las Cruces, NM

Anthony Casaus was born and raised in Roswell, New Mexico graduating from Roswell High School in 1983. Casaus attended New Mexico State University graduating in 1988 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcast Journalism. Casaus spent two years in commercial television as a news reporter and sports anchor for KBIM-TV in Roswell.

Casaus then went off to work in the non-profit field working for the Boy Scouts of America in El Paso, Texas and Little Rock Arkansas as a scouting executive from 1990 –1996 conducting fundraising drives, coordinating scouting activities and volunteer recruitment. During this time he was also responsible for recruiting at-risk youth and their parents to participate in the scouting program.

Casaus then went back into broadcasting but for non-profit public broadcasting in radio and television in 1996. Casaus currently serves as the Assistant Executive Director of Development for Public Radio & Television station, KRWG in LasCruces. Under this position Casaus manages the station’s development department securing funding from businesses, corporations, grants and private individuals for both the public radio and television station on the New Mexico State University campus.

He has served in this capacity for thirteen years which serves southern, New Mexico and West Texas. In 2006, he earned his Masters Degree in Administration from New Mexico State University. Also, in 2008 Casaus enjoyed being selected to the Public Television System Leadership Diversity Program. The program selected ten individuals of diversity making strides in public broadcasting to participate in a one year leadership program.

Casaus has served on the New Mexico Commission for Community Volunteerism since 2002 offering leadership in marketing and participating in the annual peer grant review program including numerous other activities.

He is also a member of civic club, Las Cruces Sertoma Club of Las Cruces supporting individuals with speech and hearing needs and coaches youth in various sports that include baseball and softball. He is currently married to Annie Casaus from Dexter, New Mexico as they have three children, Anthony Jr., Alyssa, and Angel.

Patricia Lee Chavez

Albuquerque, NM

Joel Raymond Hamilton

Alamogordo, NM

Born and reared in Kansas City, MO. Resident of Alamogordo, NM since 1971. Education: B.A. Psychology, NM State University, M.A. Psychology Counseling and Guidance, University of Northern Colorado. Career: Owner – Inkpen Vintage Fountain Pen, 25 years NM State Government - Corrections Department, Youth Authority, Children Youth and Families Department, Adjunct Professor – NM State University, Pepperdine University, Park College, Activities and Organizations(Present and Past), NM Criminal Justice Association,American Correctional Association, Western Correctional Association,NAACP, Otero County United Way, Otero County Counsel on Alcohol Abuseand Alcoholism, Pen Collectors of America.

Deborah Hartz

Albuquerque, NM

Nancy Hughes

Albuquerque, NM

Loretta Johnson

Albuquerque, NM

Matt Montoya

Albuquerque, NM

Steve Patrick

Ex-Officio
Albuquerque, NM

Frances Ray

Albuquerque, NM

Angela Romero

Albuquerque, NM

Angela Romero came to New Mexico at the age of three with her Dad and her brother. Living in the East Mountains, she attended Moriarty School’s from elementary through high school. After four years of living in California and attending California State University at Fullerton, she decided that New Mexico was where she wanted to be. She moved back to New Mexico and finished her BA in Mass Communications at the University of New Mexico and then went on to obtain her MBA from UNM’s Anderson School of Management.

Angela started in the employee benefits field 14 years ago working for FHP health plan, then Pacificare and Presbyterian Health Plan, after a series of mergers and acquisitions. As a licensed Health, Life, Property and Casualty Agent with a desire to begin her own business, Angela opened the Angela Romero Insurance Agency, or ARIA, Inc. in 2002 passionate about serving her clients with the respect and attention she feels individuals deserve no matter the size of the company. Angela belongs to many professional organizations locally and nationally including, the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, the Hispano Chamber ofCommerce, Rio Grande Health Underwriters’ Association (where she has served as the Education chair), National Association of Health Underwriters’ and the National Association of Women Business Owners. She is also a commissioner for the Governor’s Commissionon Community Volunteerism.

Angela is married to Nestor Romero and has two beautiful boys, A. Quinn age 5 and R. Liam age 1.

Ron Solimon

Albuquerque, NM

Ron Solimon is the President & CEO of the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, Inc., a state-chartered not-for-profit corporation, and Indian Pueblos Marketing, Inc., a federally-chartered for-profit corporation. Both corporations are owned & operated by the 19 Pueblo Indian tribes of New Mexico and headquartered in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Ron is a member of the Pueblo of Laguna Indian Tribe of New Mexico. Ron earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from New Mexico State University in 1973 and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of New Mexico School of Law in 1976.

Ron serves on several national, state and local boards and commissions, including the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Board of Trustees (Washington, DC), the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development (Mesa, AZ), Walking Shield (CA), the New Mexico Workforce Development Board (NM), the New Mexico Commission on Community Volunteerism (NM), the Tourism Association of New Mexico(TANM) (ABQ, NM), the Albuquerque Convention & Visitors Bureau(ACVB) Board of Directors (ABQ, NM) and the Laguna Development Corporation (LDC) (Laguna, NM).

Ron’s wife, Elaine, is the Executive Director of ARCA in Albuquerque, New Mexico – a not-for-profit organization that serves people with developmental disabilities. They have two grown children. Their daughter Kristin is a licensed physical therapist who lives and works in Tucson, Arizona with her husband Dr. Judah Pifer and their two year old son, Preston James Pifer. Judah is a third-year resident in orthopedic surgery at the University of Arizona Medical Center. Ron and Elaine’s son, Justin, is an attorney with the Wiggins Williams & Wiggins Law Firm in Albuquerque, New Mexico where his wife Lucy is a practicing attorney with the Public Defender’s Office. Justin and Lucy are expecting their first child in October of this year.

Ron and Elaine live in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Thomas F. Stewart

Alto, NM

Thomas F. Stewart is a retired US Army colonel and, in addition to serving on the New Mexico Commission for Community Volunteerism, he currently serves as County Manager for Lincoln County. He is a graduate of New Mexico State University and received a Master of Arts degree in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. An individual with extensive military command experience in a variety of assignments, he commanded an AH-64 attack helicopter battalion in Desert Storm, has served as Chief of US Army Aviation Officer assignments, commanded an aviation brigade in the Republic of Korea, and his final assignment in the military was as Chief, Western Hemisphere Operations Division, Operations Directorate, Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington, D.C. In this capacity, he coordinated military operations and advised the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the National Command Authority on counter-drug, domestic support, and conventional operations of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard in the Atlantic Ocean and North, South, and Central America. He has been the County Manager for Lincoln County, New Mexico since 1998, is the Honorary Colonel for the NMSU Army ROTC Bataan Battalion, and has also been appointed a member of the State of New Mexico’s Disproportionate Minority Contact Blue Ribbon Panel.

Robert "Bobby" Wallace

Albuquerque, NM