Alan Marks, J.D.
President
Alan Marks is a graduate of Stanford University and University of Texas Law School, is a licensed attorney in New Mexico and Texas and a licensed teacher and administrator in New Mexico. Marks taught at Rio Grande HS in Albuquerque from 1978-92, and was named NM Teacher of the Year in 1989. He founded South Valley Academy, a charter high school in 2000, and built and directed the school until 2008. He has helped hundreds of minority students from across New Mexico successfully apply to and graduate from the nation’s top private colleges and universities. He is the founder and president of the Center for Educational Initiatives. He has served on many city, county and state boards, public involvement committees, task forces, and non-profit boards.
Maria martinez
Vice President
Maria Martinez Sanchez is a native New Mexican, born and raised in Albuquerque. She attended Albuquerque High School and New Mexico State University. She received her law degree from the University of New Mexico in 2008 and has worked in the public interest field since becoming an attorney. She worked at the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty for six years, where she fought to improve the living and working conditions of New Mexico's farm and dairy workers. Since 2014 she has been a staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, defending New Mexicans' constitutional and civil rights. She is currently the Legal Director at New Mexico ACLU.
Warren Edaakie
Director
I am Warren Edaakie, an Isleta Pueblo tribal member and also part Zuni Pueblo. I am a land steward and farmer on the traditional homelands of the Southern Tiwa people of Isleta Pueblo, south of Albuquerque, NM. I received a bachelor’s degree in Rangeland Management which I utilized as Natural Resources Manager for Isleta Pueblo Natural Resources Department to implement a wide spectrum of agricultural, rangeland and forestry projects. My mission now is to provide the highest quality goods, products, and services through a holistic framework focused on improving the quality of our lives, our communities, and the immense and important ecosystems that surround us. Through research and practical implementation of regenerative agriculture on Myster E Farms, we are demonstrating and providing a framework for small farms to be successful economically, socially, and environmentally.