COVID in New Mexico has been a defining moment for institutions to recommit to most impacted communities being at the center of health equity. Defining accessible language for communities to understand health equity through an anti-racism framework that recognizes New Mexico as Indigenous land with assets of Indigenous knowledge and ways of being and knowing. We must reflect on our individual experiences. And we must also act collectively to heal from traumas, both current and generational. These are necessary to build the transformational relationships needed for not only more equitable health outcomes for individuals, families and communities but also a transformational vision of New Mexico with shared values that align equity, health, land and people. And this will also include recognizing the need for multiple strategies for health equity outside of our healthcare systems like access to the outdoors, art making, community safety, food justice, good jobs, healthy relationships, housing, organizing, traditional medicine, storytelling, transportation and more. The interactive session will focus on anti-racism, assets, authentic engagement, community organizing, equity vs. equality, the Four Cs, healing informed approaches, healthy and intergenerational relationships, intersectionality, most impacted communities, social determinants of health, storytelling, transformational relationships and values that builds on some of the most important medicine we already have, ourselves and our ancestors.

About Our Presenter

Christopher Ramirez is Co-Founder and Executive Director for Together For Brothers. He brings an extensive amount of community organizing, strategic planning, consultation and organizational management. Building power w/ YMOC and making space at decision making tables is a core value he lifts up at T4B.

For CEU requests, please email info@ConstellationNM.com.

Jardin de los Niños is a non-profit organization with a Five-Star early childhood educational program certified by the FOCUS Program of New Mexico. We are designated as a Trauma-Informed Care Center by the New Mexico Association for Infant Mental Health. We provide early childhood education, therapeutic intervention, and comprehensive services to homeless and near-homeless children, from the ages of six weeks to 10 years, and their families. Our mission at Jardin de los Niños is to create new possibilities for homeless and near-homeless children and their families through loving childcare, education, and the use of community resources. This session will focus on our holistic and strengths-based approach in providing programs and services that support and elevate our children and families through collaborations, partnerships, and community relationships

About Our Presenters

Dr. Michelle Saenz-Adames is the Chief Executive Officer at Jardin de los Niños. Jardin de los Niños is a Nonprofit organization that serves homeless/near homeless children and their families in a five-star early childhood education program setting with a Trauma-Informed Care Center designation. She has spent twenty years working with children, families, educators, and administrators across the P-20 education pipeline. Dr. Saenz-Adames has served as a Co-Principal Investigator for first generation programs such as TRIO Upward Bound and the Daniels Fund Scholarship Program. She is the Principal Investigator for numerous programs funded through federal and state funding sources and private foundations including Jardin’s Children’s Therapeutic Services Program; Healthy and Wise Wellness Program; Infant Mental Health Program; Anti-Hunger and Wellness Program; and the Flourishing Families Parent Mentoring Program. She serves as the Co-Lead Ambassador for the children are born into healthy homes action network within the Doña Ana County Early Childhood Coalition. Dr. Saenz-Adames serves as the Transportation Sector Leader within the Doña Ana County Resilience Leaders, and she is an active member of the LC3 Collaborative supporting Early Childhood Education and Family Engagement. She is an active leader within Doña Ana County and throughout New Mexico supporting education and policy initiatives, which impact families and our diverse communities. Dr. Saenz-Adames has been a College Assistant Professor in the School of Teacher Preparation, Administration and Leadership at New Mexico State University for the last 15 years. She is a trained educator focusing on Secondary Education, English Language Arts. She earned her Master’s Degree in Educational Diagnostics and her Doctorate in Special Education with an emphasis on Learning Disabilities, Emotional and Behavior Disorders. She serves as a research consultant for the Strengthening Border Families Research Project and serves as a Co-Principal Investigator for the Family Prosperity Project, Guaranteed Basic Income (GBI). Dr. Saenz-Adames is passionate about promoting services from a holistic, strength-based approach to empower children, youth and families to experience personal growth and success while mitigating the disparities that impact high risk families.

Diana O' Brien is the Director of Development and Community Engagement for Jardin de los Niños, a non-profit organization with a five-star educational program and trauma-informed care designation. The mission of Jardin de los Niños is to create new possibilities for homeless and near-homeless children and their families through loving childcare, education, and the use of community resources. In her work with Jardin, Diana oversees the Flourishing Families Parent Mentoring Program which provides the opportunity for parents of Jardin to gain skills that will support them both personally and professionally through a strong mentorship experience. Additionally, she coordinates the Infant Mental Health Program. This program helps to ensure staff and families are provided the resources and skills they need to foster healthy development and healthy engagement. Diana is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, adjunct faculty for the College of Health, Education, and Social Transformation at New Mexico State University, and a Board Member of the New Mexico Association for Infant Mental Health. Diana serves as a Co-Lead Ambassador for the Doña Ana County Early Childhood Education Coalition and is a member of LC3 Behavioral Collaborative and Doña Ana County Resilience Leaders. Throughout her career, Diana has worked with individuals and families across the lifespan. Her focus in her work is developing and delivering services and programs that create generational change by empowering children and families. Her passion is providing access to resources and opportunities for all children and families from a holistic, and strengths-based approach in order to empower them and move them along the prenatal to career pipeline. Diana believes in the power of kindness and is the founder of the Random Acts of Kindtrip- a project developed in 2015, that focuses on making the world better, safer, and kinder through acts of kindness and compassion. She is a proud New Mexican and is passionate about serving her community.

CEUs are not available for this session.

In August of 2020, up to 12 million households were at risk of losing their homes if the government didn’t act. Advocates sounded the alarm, and federal, state and local governments took heed, providing historic resources and protections to keep tenants housed. For the first time in history, the federal government implemented a national moratorium on evictions for nonpayment of rent, and Congress provided $46.5 billion in rental assistance, forty six times the amount Congress provided renters after the Great Recession. In 2021 alone, states and localities implemented over 130 new tenant protections to keep families housed. These historic and unprecedented actions, together with stimulus checks, expanded unemployment insurance, expanded child tax credits and more, kept millions of families housed during the pandemic. But the same renters that struggled to keep a roof over their heads before and during the pandemic will continue to struggle post-pandemic. The United States has a severe shortage of affordable homes and gaping holes in our social safety net. The same longstanding pre-pandemic housing inequities will persist, unless and until policymakers at all levels enact robust tenant protections and invest in the long-term solutions needed to make housing affordable to the lowest income people. In this presentation, Diane Yentel, President and CEO of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, will discuss how the pandemic exacerbated and exposed the long-standing housing crisis, why the crisis most harms people with the lowest incomes and people of color, the solutions just within reach, and the political will needed to end homelessness and achieve housing justice once and for all.

About Our Presenter

Diane Yentel is the President and CEO of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, a membership organization dedicated solely to achieving socially just public policy that ensures people with the lowest incomes in the United States have affordable and decent homes. Diane is a veteran affordable housing policy expert and advocate with nearly two decades of work on affordable housing and community development issues. Before rejoining NLIHC (where she previously worked as a policy analyst), Diane was Vice President of Public Policy and Government Affairs at Enterprise Community Partners, where she led federal, state and local policy, research and advocacy programs. Prior to Enterprise, Diane was the director of the Public Housing Management and Occupancy Division at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), where she managed a team overseeing the development and implementation of nationwide public housing policies, procedures and guidelines. She also worked to advance affordable housing policies with Oxfam America and the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, and served for 3 years as a community development Peace Corps volunteer in Zambia. Diane is frequently cited in media outlets, including the Washington Post, The New York Times, Politico, Mother Jones, NPR and The Guardian. She serves on the Board of Directors of the National Housing Conference, and the Coalition on Human Needs, and has a Masters in Social work from the University of Texas at Austin.

For CEU requests, please email info@ConstellationNM.com.

Martha Escudero will present the root causes of the housing crisis which are; patriarchy, capitalism, and white supremacy. Solutions on housing presented by unhoused community; such as houses and harm reduction.  Why is everyone deserving of housing? Ways we may support in creating a system of care to provide housing for all.

About Our Presenter

Martha Escudero is a mother of 2 daughters. Womb to Tomb Doula, Lactation Educator, Homeschooling Educator, and Maternal Mental Health Advocate. Strong believer of housing as a human right, using harm reduction for healing, and building a world that sustains all life. Has been an activist in food justice and prison abolition work. Lived 2 years among Mapuche people in a rural community in Wallmapu AKA Chile. Currently lives in El Sereno, California, where she reclaimed a once state owned home through grassroots organization Reclaiming Our Homes. In her fun days you will find her listening to music, drinking tea or coffee, gardening, and cuddling her daughters.

For CEU requests, please email info@ConstellationNM.com.

Session Description: Join Native Women Lead (NWL) Co-Directors as they share their emergence story and how creating a space to co-create with community has enhanced and mobilized their movement that weaves gender equity, racial equity, ecosystem building, entrepreneurship, and economic justice.  As attendees consider Health Equity to address social determinants of health, learn how creating space to activate community voice and solutions builds trust, honors truth, and mitigates further trauma to increase inclusion, equity, care, and communal healing. While NWL focuses primarily on economic stability and social and community context, the connection between health and wealth, is expanded by Indigenous worldviews while challenging (and changing) systemic and structural inequities that prevent communities from accessing all aspects of NWL believes that those closest to the problem or issue, are also those who have the expertise and solutions to lead change. NWL sees the Social Determinants of Health as interconnected and complex that require supports and changes at all levels of community engagement and systems.  NWL also acknowledges that Indigenous women play a crucial role as caregivers, culture bearers, advocates, and leaders of their communities as the primary breadwinners and economic stabilizers. Woven with their cultural wisdom, women are the centering force in bridging ancestral wisdom and future vision to ensure the survival and thriving of Indigenous families, communities, and Nations. It cannot be understated that indigenous wisdom and worldview expand and challenge current definitions of health and wealth. The time is now to uplift and make visible Indigenous wisdom, wealth, and worldview to support all communities to pathways toward equity, empowerment, and healing.

About Our Presenters

Jaime Gloshay is a Co-Director and Co-Founder of Native Women Lead, where she leads key initiatives in access to capital, partnership, advancement, and policy advocacy while overseeing program design, international development, and data and evaluation efforts. She has wide-ranging experience serving as a leader and working with diverse teams across nonprofit, government, and corporate sectors. Prior to her current efforts, Jaime led DreamSpring’s (formerly Accion) Native lending program, managing a portfolio of $1M+. She also supported the development of Nusenda’s Co-Op Capital initiative, working with several community partners to create, test, and expand a relationship-based lending pilot. In 2019, she was appointed to lead the tribal subcommittee for New Mexico’s Statewide Complete Count Commission, which activated a $11.5M state investment to ensure a complete count for the 2020 census. In 2010, she directed the Navajo Nation’s Decennial Census, managing a budget of $7M and leading a team of 3,600 people. Jaime has also held management positions at Gap Inc., Alaska Airlines, and Enterprise Holdings, and has served as an advocate for families at the State of New Mexico’s Income Support Division. As part of her community work, Jaime serves on UpTogether’s Board of Directors and is a Movement Parther with Justice Funder’s Just Transition in Investment Community, a Partnership Committee member for Community Credit Lab, a SheEO Activator, an Advisor for Angels of Impact, and an Emerging Fund Manager for the 2021–2022 Purpose Futures Fellowship. Jaime is also a facilitator for Kindle Project’s Indigenous Women’s Flow Fund and a supporting faculty member for Trauma of Money. Jaime has been recognized as a 2020 Boston Impact Initiative cohort member, 2020 National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development 40 Under 40 award recipient, 2018 Opportunity Finance Network Fellow, and the 2019 Angel Tank Audience Choice Award winner. She was also one of twenty-five people selected nationally to attend the 2020 Transform Finance Institute for Social Justice Leaders. Jaime holds a BA in Native American Studies & Political Science and an MPA in Public Management from the University of New Mexico. She is a citizen of the Navajo, White Mountain Apache, and Kiowa Nations, residing in Tiwa Territory. She is a mother of three and enjoys hiking, being on her ancestral homelands, and reading to restore.

Alicia Ortega is from the Pueblos of Pojoaque and Santa Clara. She is a Co-Founder and Co-Director of Strategy & Growth at Native Women Lead where she oversees the general operations of the organization and leads key initiatives including storytelling and communications, policy and advocacy, the Fair-Trade Initiative, community engagement and partnerships. She brings over a decade of experience working with minority and tribally owned and operated businesses and entities from start-ups to established businesses. Alicia has extensive knowledge in tribal, state and federal governance previously working with the 20 Pueblos of New Mexico’s tribal leadership as the Executive Director of the All Pueblo Council of Governors on critical issues affecting tribal communities including health, education, state/federal legislation, natural resources, elder advocacy and youth initiatives. Alicia is the recipient of the 2019 New Mexico Distinguished Public Service Award from NM Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and was inducted in 2021 into the UNM Anderson School of Management Hall of Fame. She serves on the Native American Voters Alliance Education Project Board and the UNM Anderson School of Management’s Women in Leadership Advisory Board. Alicia is a professor at the UNM Anderson School of Management where she teaches American Indian Business and Management. She also serves as an Advisor for the American Indian Business Association and the Native Guitars Tour Organization. She is currently a 2022 Changemaker Fellow with the NDN Collective. Alicia holds a BBA in Organizational Management with a concentration in Entrepreneurial Studies and two MBA degrees in Marketing and Management of Technology from the University of New Mexico Anderson School of Management.

For CEU requests, please email info@ConstellationNM.com.