Advisory Board
Thomas H. Aageson, Executive Director
Museum of New Mexico Foundation
Santa Fe, NM
The Foundation is a non-profit organization that provides
essential support to the Museum of New Mexico's four museums and five state
monuments. The Foundation raises funds and mounts capital campaigns,
operates a membership program of 5,800 households, five museum shops and a
national licensing and product development program - all for the benefit of
the MNM. The Foundation creates direct support of over $800,000 annually for
the Museum of New Mexico.
Aageson was Executive Director of Aid to Artisans from 1995-2000 and the Director of Program Initiatives from 2000-2002. ATA is an International NGO dedicated to enhancing the livelihoods of artisans through sustainable enterprise and cultural development. Prior to that he was the Vice-President of Marketing and Merchandising of Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic, CT from 1975-95. He led the museum marketing, retail merchandising, food services, visitor services and a staff of 150, with earned income revenues of $14 million.
He presented "Cultural Enterprises: Critical Factors of Success" at the annual gathering of the Social Enterprise Association in 2004. At UNESCO in Paris, France he presented "Museum Cultural Enterprises" and also was on a panel discussion of cultural enterprises and global diversity in 2003. The Council of Competitiveness selected Aageson to be their national expert on developing the artisan sector of New Mexico in 2003. At the 2002 AAM Annual Meeting he was the panel chair for "Museums as Economic Catalysts for Traditional Communities." He also delivered the keynote address at the 2001 Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission on "Museum Cultural Enterprises: From Mission to Market." In 1988 he published, Financial Analysis for Museum Stores, and in 1999, "Market Value: 5 Steps to an Effective Museum Marketing Plan" in the American Association of Museum's Museum News.
Aageson earned his M.B.A. from Columbia University, a B.F.T. from American Graduate School Of International Management and an A.B. from Marquette University. He also speaks Spanish.
John W. Anderson, Executive Vice-President and Legislative Council
New Mexico Banker's Association
Albuquerque, NM
Mr. Anderson has been practicing law in New Mexico since 1972 and
has served as Executive Vice President for the New Mexico Bankers
Association for 10 years. He was employed by the New Mexico Legislative
Council Service from 1972 through 1982, and during that time was
responsible for drafting much of the major legislation for New Mexico,
including major bank legislation, the New Mexico Tort Claims Act, the
Eminent Domain Code, the Probate Code and the Liquor Control Act.
Mr. Anderson has had extensive experience in working with a variety of
state agencies and commissions, such as the State Land Office, the
Human Services Department, the State Board of Finance, the State
Investment Council, the Financial Institutions Division, the Securities
Division and the Department of Health. He has also had extensive
experience in legislative lobbying in New Mexico for such clients as
the New Mexico Bankers Association, New Mexico Ophthalmological
Society, APCapital, Mew Mexico Medical Society, Western New Mexico
University, New Mexico Medical Review Association, New Mexico Mortgage
Finance Authority, New Mexico Orthopaedic Society, New Mexico Society
of Anesthesiologists, New Mexico OB/GYN Society, Tricore Reference
Laboratories, EDS, Lloyds of London and Central and Southwest Utilities.
Mr. Anderson earned his J.D. degree from the University of Texas and
his B.A. degree from the University of Idaho. He is a member of the
State Bar of New Mexico as well as the New Mexico Trial Lawyers
Association. He has been the recipient of the New Mexico Supreme Court
Award of Outstanding Service to the Judiciary, and was named among the
Best Lawyers in America 1992-2007. Mr. Anderson's Martindale-Hubbell
Law Directory Rating is AV, the highest rating designation.
Kim Blueher, Director of Lending
WESST Corp.
Albuquerque, NM
Kim T. Blueher is Director of Lending at WESST Corp., a non-profit
organization that provides business assistance in the form of training,
consulting and access to capital for low-income women and minorities.
She manages the Loan Program at WESST Corp., which provides small
business loans to start-up and existing businesses who are unable to
access traditional sources of financing. She also conducts workshops on
business plans and simple financial statement projections and analysis,
and works one-on-one with clients. Kim has been associated with WESST
Corp. since 1990.
Kim received her BA in English (1979) from UNM and her MBA in Finance (1982) from the Robert O. Anderson School of Management at UNM. She worked for 10 years in the banking industry as a commercial loan officer in Phoenix, Arizona and Albuquerque, New Mexico.
^ Back to TopMary Burns, Private Investor
Taos, NM
Mary Burns has lived in the Taos area since 1985 where she has served on the Boards of many community organizations. She is also an angel investor and has supported several businesses that are, or were, based in Taos and other parts of New Mexico, as well as other US states and abroad. Since 1992 she has been a member of the Investors' Circle (IC), a national network of socially responsible venture investors who believe that business must lead the transition to a sustainable economy. For eight of those years Mary served as a member of the IC's Board of Directors. Currently she is a member of the Board of the IC Foundation, working in the dynamic niche between venture capital, philanthropy and social investing. The IC Foundation provides an important vehicle for exploring the power of venture capital as a tool for social change.
Mary grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and has a BA in English Literature from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, for which she has also served as a Trustee.
Gay Dillingham, Co-Founder
Earthstone International
Santa Theresa, NM
Gay Dillingham, Co-Founder and Director (Principal) of
Earthstone International, LLC. Earthstone is an IP company manufacturing
"white foam glass" for surface abrasion, cleaning technologies, and building
materials. Additionally, Dillingham owns her own production company, CNS
Communications and is an award winning producer/director. She is currently
the executive director of the Livingry Foundation. She is a Trustee for the
Coalition for Quality Children's Media and a board member for the Center for
Defense Information based in DC. In January 2003, Dillingham was appointed
by Governor Richardson to the New Mexico Environmental Improvement Board and
was elected Chairperson.
Mark Lautman, Director of Economic Development
Mesa del Sol
Albuquerque, NM
Mark
Lautman is the Director of Economic Development at Mesa del Sol, a
planned community on Albuquerque's southeast mesa. Prior to moving to
Mesa del Sol, he was the founder of MetaMetrics, an economic
development services company dedicated to helping local economic
development organizations, university research park corporations and
master planned community developers to build and manage "Elite"
business attraction programs.
Since becoming a professional economic developer twenty years ago Mark Lautman personally started and managed three business attraction programs: Grants NM, 1983-86, Rio Rancho NM, 1986-98 and Santa Teresa, NM 1998-04. During this time he managed the design, development and marketing of 12 industrial parks totaling more than 3,600 acres. So far his program teams have attracted more than 70 corporate locations to New Mexico accounting for more than 12,000 new jobs, 5 million square feet of industrial space, and more than $10 billion in new investment.
He played a leadership role in founding five regional economic development organizations: The Albuquerque Metroplex Marketing Group, Senator Domenici's NM Rural Payday program, The Mesilla Valley Economic Development Alliance, The Paseo Del Norte Regional Marketing Group and the New Mexico Partnership for Economic Development.
Mr. Lautman is an IEDC certified Economic Developer (CEcD), past member of the national board and past President of the NM Industrial Development Executives Association. He has been a NM Economic Development Commissioner since 1999 and sits on the following boards: The Mesilla Valley Economic Development Alliance, Foreign Trade Association, NM Association of Commerce and Industry, NM Rural Payday, and the NM Association of Community Colleges. He is on the Faculty of the University of Arizona BEDC and WNMU's BEDC's.
L. Ray Moncrief, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
Kentucky Highlands Investment Corporation
London, Kentucky
Ray Moncrief has held various positions within Kentucky
Highlands Investment Corporation since 1984 and is currently Executive Vice
President and Chief Operating Officer. He is President and Chief Executive
Officer of Mountain Ventures, Inc., a Small Business Investment Corporation
(SBIC) licensed by the U. S. Small Business Administration and a wholly
owned subsidiary of Kentucky Highlands Investment Corporation. In these
capacities, Mr. Moncrief is responsible for the investing activities of
Kentucky Highlands and Mountain Ventures including analyzing new investments
and portfolio management. He has served as Chief Executive Officer of five
of Kentucky Highlands' investee companies and has been instrumental in
providing financial and operational leadership in many turnaround and
financial restructuring situations. Mr. Moncrief has in-depth experience in
startup, expansion, and divestiture of businesses. He provides technical and
management assistance to entrepreneurs during every phase of business
development beginning with the creation of their business plans and the
startup and capitalization through the expansion of their companies, and the
eventual sale of their companies.
Mr. Moncrief is President and Chief Executive Officer and a board member of the Appalachian Fund Management Company, the sole General Partner of the Southern Appalachian Fund, L.P., organized to make equity investments in small business enterprises as defined by the New Markets Venture Capital regulations of the U. S. Small Business Administration. The Appalachian Fund Management Company will provide technical assistance to the Southern Appalachian Fund's portfolio companies.
Ray is a founding director and is currently Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Community Development Venture Capital Alliance (CDVCA). CDVCA honored Ray with a special Lifetime Achievement Award in March 2004. This award recognized his deep-rooted commitment to using venture capital tools as a means of creating lasting change in the lives of low-income individuals and the economies of distressed communities.
Mr. Moncrief is an active Director on six corporate Boards of Directors, and is a past member of the Board of Governors of the National Association of Small Business Investment Companies (NASBIC) and is a past member of the Executive Committee of NASBIC. He is a founding board member of Southern Kentucky Economic Development Corporation. Mr. Moncrief has traveled nationally and internationally speaking about the use of equity investment as an economic development strategy. He has participated in several study groups analyzing capital needs in rural areas including an economic round table at the White House. Ray is often called upon to conduct training sessions at various conferences and meetings. Ray is a graduate of Leadership Kentucky.
Ray Moncrief is a 1972 graduate of Louisiana Tech University with a B.S. Degree in Accounting and completed graduate courses at Lamar University. From 1972 through 1978, he held various accounting positions of progressively increasing responsibility with Firestone Tire and Rubber Company. In August 1978, he became the Chief Financial Officer of Outdoor Venture Corporation, Stearns, Kentucky, and served there until June 1983. Ray became Chief Executive Officer and an owner of Medical Management Corp., an emergency room management company in 1983. In 1987, he and others founded Shadow, Inc., a manufacturer of high-quality bass boats, where he served as President until December 1989.
Kim Sanchez Rael, Venture Partner
Flywheel Ventures
Santa Fe, NM
Kim Sanchez Rael is a Venture Partner, at Flywheel Ventures, a
new Mexico-based early-stage venture capital firm. Prior to joining the
Flywheel Team, Kim was a founder and investor in Qynergy Corporation, and
served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer, which
included responsibility for securing and structuring venture financing for
the company. Qynergy, based in Albuquerque, is backed by In-Q-Tel (the
venture capital arm of the Central Intelligence Agency). The company
develops cutting edge technology targeted at the fastest growing segments of
the battery and portable power markets. In 2003, Kim recruited a new
President to take over and lead the next phase of growth of the company.
Before Qynergy, Kim spent 7 years at Intel Corporation in a variety of senior positions spanning finance, manufacturing, engineering, strategic planning, operations, and organizational development functions. She managed a capital budget of over $200 million, led the design team for a $1 billion semiconductor factory project, and achieved a number of business process improvements that increased factory capacity by 15%, reduced product cost by 70%, and improved overall factory cost effectiveness by 25%.
As a native New Mexican, Kim has also invested heavily in the public sector and nonprofit community. She began her public service career as a Legislative Aide for two years to United States Senator Jeff Bingaman in his Washington, D.C. office. She is currently a member of the New Mexico State Board of Finance (appointed by Governor Bill Richardson), a Director of the Albuquerque Public Schools Foundation, and an Advisory Board member for the Arts Alliance. She is a member of the founding Governing Council of a charter elementary school in Albuquerque, a co-founding partner of Social Venture Partners New Mexico, and serves on the Wells Fargo Bank New Mexico Leadership Council. In 2002 and 2003, Kim was named one of the state's top 40 "Power Brokers" in the annual publication by the New Mexico Business Weekly, and was featured as the cover story of the 2003 issue. Kim's past volunteer efforts include serving as a member and Chairperson of the Albuquerque Private Industry Council (now known as the Workforce Investment Board), an Advisory Board member for Albuquerque Development Capital, and Co-Chair for the Greater Albuquerque Promise Book.
Kim holds a Bachelor's degree with Honors from Harvard University and an MBA and Certificate in Public Management from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. She has also served as a Rotary International Graduate Scholar in Caracas, Venezuela, and is a graduate of Leadership Albuquerque. Kim lives with her husband, Lawrence Rael, and their two children in Albuquerque.
John Ulrich, Chair
New Mexico Community Foundation
Albuquerque, NM
John Ulrich is a graduate of California State
University, Hayward. He began his career in the investment business in 1984.
He worked for one of the nation's largest brokerage firms for nine years
before leaving in 1992 to form an independent investment advisory firm based
in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which focused on the type of services that he is
practicing today.
As managing director and a principal of his own investment advisory firm, John was the principal architect of the firm's investment strategy and disciplines. In 1996 the firm was purchased by one of the top fifty investment-counseling firms in the United States with assets in excess of $75 Billion. As a portfolio manager and member of the investment teams in the Pasadena and later the San Francisco offices for the firm, John gained extensive experience in a wide range of investment disciplines. He has interfaced with a wide variety of clientele, all types of employee benefit plans, including several types of Taft Hartley plans, Native American Tribes and their tribally owned and sponsored entities, public and private foundations and endowments, as well as educational institutions and high net worth individuals.
John is currently a Principal with Sovereign Wealth Advisors. Previously he was a senior consultant with Strategic Wealth Management, Inc., where he brought his expertise on providing investment consulting to high net worth individuals, institutions, and Native American Tribes. John serves on the Capital Markets and Money Manager Review committees and manages the firm's Albuquerque, New Mexico office.
John's interests and associations include philanthropy. He has served on number of non-profit boards including the American Cancer Society, Big Brothers Big Sisters of New Mexico, and the University of New Mexico Cancer Center. He is a former board member of the Laguna Construction Company. He is the Chair of the New Mexico Community Foundation, a statewide community foundation and a current board member of the Albuquerque Museum Foundation. He is also past chairman of the Laguna Rainbow Corporation, a non-profit Native American Corporation that operates a 50-bed nursing home on the Laguna Pueblo in New Mexico. He is also a public member of the New Mexico State Board of Accountancy.
Jasper Welch, Director
Quality Center for Business
Farmington, NM
Since 1991, Jasper Welch has operated a management consulting practice, which specializes in strategic planning, organizational development and personnel management. Educated at the University of Colorado, Jasper is certified in business planning, personnel assessments, quality management and local governance. In 1999, Jasper began work at San Juan College where he is the director of the Quality Center for Business, which includes the B&I Training Center www.training-ctr.com and the Enterprise Center (business incubator) www.sjcenterprisecenter. com. He developed the Business Development Breakfast and "Brown Bag" lunch programs for EC companies. Jasper hosts numerous tours and visitations of the Quality Page 11 Center for Business and he has been a champion of business incubation in New Mexico and the Rocky Mountain Region.
Mr. Welch has worked as a small businessperson in the private sector in the printing, office supplies, advertising, retail, and management consulting fields. In the non-profit sector, he served as a local Chamber executive and he on numerous non-profit Boards and committees. In the area of community service, Jasper served as a Club 20 Board member (1985-2002), and received the John Vanderhoof public service award in 2003. He served as a twice-elected Council member on the Durango City Council (1991-1999) including two one-year terms as Mayor of Durango, CO. Mr. Welch is certified as a Quality New Mexico Examiner (2002) and he was invited to present on business incubation at the annual NM Economic Development Summit.
After 7 years as president of Basin Reproduction & Printing Co., Mr. Welch sold the company to his key employees and in 1991 began his management consulting firm, Four Corners Management Systems. Jasper was certified with Professional Dynametric Programs, a comprehensive personnel management system. Since that time, Four Corners Management Systems has provided management consulting services to businesses, individuals, government agencies and non-profit organizations. In addition, Jasper is a certified AchieveGlobal trainer and a certified NxLevel entrepreneurial trainer. Other client work has included facilitating strategic plans, assisting in management team development and the development of the Water Information Program in southwest Colorado. He serves as an outside director on the Stoneage Tools, Inc and Fast Track Communications, Inc. Board of Directors.