Meet Our Keynote Speakers

Freida Baker is the Executive Director of the Child Welfare Policy and Practice Group (CWG) in Montgomery, Alabama. Mrs. Baker was previously Deputy Director of Family Services with the Alabama State Department of Human Resources (DHR). She has worked in child welfare for nearly 40 years, beginning at DHR as a social worker and retiring as Deputy Director.

Elizabeth Bennett earned her dual Master in Social Work and Public Health at New Mexico State University in 2018. She has extensive experience working with and advocating for youth and families locally in New Mexico, nationally in the South Bronx of New York City, and internationally in Costa Rica as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Her areas of interest include promoting a trauma-informed, whole-person approach to wellness and work. Today, she is putting that purpose into practice in her work at the Center of Innovation. She serves as a strategic partner in the planning and implementation of Youth Peer Support, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, and the Nurtured Heart Approach, among other programs that advance a values-based approach to behavioral health across the state.

Judge Jonson has been an attorney/judge since 1991 and is licensed in New Mexico. Judge Johnson’s work involves the rights of both tribal individuals and tribal government. He has been employed with a private law group representing tribal governments practicing in tribal, state, and federal courts.

Kate Bunch, MS LPCC RPT-S IMHE-III is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC) in the state of New Mexico. Kate Bunch is a Registered Play Therapist Supervisor (RPT-S), an Endorsed Infant Mental Health provider (IMHE-III) and EMDRIA Approved Consultant.

Mathew Claps is the Principal Technical Assistance Consultant in the Youth, Family and Community Development program at American Institutes for Research (AIR). His primary responsibilities include serving as a subject matter expert on the provision of training and technical assistance in human services with a focus on child welfare systems.

Jesse Clifton has been an attorney at Disability Rights New Mexico since 2018. His practice areas are centered around serving children with disabilities and include special education, access to EPSDT Medicaid services, monitoring facilities and service providers, and investigations of institutional abuse and neglect.

Morgan Demic is the Kinship Guardianship Program Director and senior staff attorney at Pegasus Legal Services for Children. Morgan returned to Albuquerque to serve the needs of New Mexico’s youth.

Jeanne is an occupational therapist and somatic experiencing practitioner with over 35 years of experience working with children and families in New Mexico. She has worked in a variety of settings supporting families and young children including family homes, childcare facilities, community spaces and the NICU.

ío María Escamilla (they/them) is the Mountain Center’s NM Genders and Sexualities Alliance Network program manager. Born and raised in Southeastern New Mexico, they bring with them nearly eight years of experience in nonprofit people and project management, seventeen years of training and facilitation experience, three years providing health and human services to the LGBTQIA+ community, and six years of working within recovery communities. Their goals are to bring more therapeutic adventure to LGBTQIA+ communities throughout New Mexico and to share in a more consistent way the strong, positive data of the NMGSAN program with school administrators and organizations. They live in Albuquerque, NM with their Terrier Chihuahua, Huxley.

Lindsey Fooks is a Children’s Court Hearing Officer in New Mexico’s Second Judicial District Court, Albuquerque, New Mexico. Mrs. Fooks practiced abuse and neglect law, representing both parents and children, for seven years in Oregon before moving to New Mexico. Mrs. Fooks has held a variety of roles in the New Mexico child welfare system, starting out as a Children’s Court Attorney for CYFD and transitioning to representing parents and children in Bernalillo, Sandoval, and Cibola counties.

Kate Gibbons, Ph.D is the Director of Continuous Quality and Learning at the Center of Innovation for Behavioral Health and Wellness at New Mexico State University. She is known for achieving organizational and system transformation through her ability to build relationships with a broad range of audiences.

Megan Gonzales is a ICWA Court Program Manager. Ms. Gonzales is dedicated to improving outcomes for children and families involved with the child welfare system. This work has led her down a career path that continues to focus more directly within the scope of ICWA and IFPA.

Katie Gordon holds a M.A. in Family Studies & Child Development from UNM and a Master of Divinity from Wesley Theological Seminary. During the past five years, Katie has successfully advocated in over 60 administrative fair hearings, securing Medicaid and community-based waiver services for her clients with a broad range of disabilities.

Teresa Gregersen, ACP, LPCC, ADDC is a paralegal and educator, is trained in mental health counseling, and has a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling. She is based in the Chicago, IL area. She has been a mindfulness meditation coach for over 7 years and organizes mindfulness meditation groups within business organizations. Teresa is passionate about social justice advocacy and teaches on cultural competence and race, bias, and ethnicity within the legal profession. She founded Maitri Bridge to help equip attorneys and paralegals with tools and resources to support their mental health and well-being and ultimately better serve clients from marginalized and vulnerable populations.

Caroline Greig, MEd, MPA, is the Project Director of Anti-Trafficking Initiatives at WestCoast Children’s Clinic in Oakland, California. This includes managing the Commercial Sexual Exploitation Identification Tool (CSE-IT) and CSE-IT Online partnerships. Caroline has 12 years of experience supporting children and families with current or former involvement in the child welfare system. She provided educational services and advocacy to families struggling with a complex medical need and has multiple recognition awards for collaboration and expertise from the Administration of Children’s Services in New York City. Caroline received her Master in Education from Arcadia University with a focus in Special Education and her Master in Public Administration at the Marxe School of Public and International Affairs at Baruch College.

Isabel Guerrero holds a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice and Spanish. Isabel has been with the Department for over 4 years. As a Senior placement worker and currently PS tribal coordinator with the office of the secretary. Prior to coming to the department Isabel was the ICWA/Foster care case worker with Mescalero Apache tribe for 5 years.

Su Hodgeman gained experience working with foster families and non-custodial parents at the Colorado Dept of Human Services while working on her Human Services degree from Metropolitan State University in Denver. After returning to New Mexico and receiving her LADAC, she alternated her career between doing Substance Abuse Counseling for various San Juan County treatment facilities.

Skyler Larkin is a licensed clinical social worker who earned her master’s degree in social work at San Diego State University in 2017 with a concentration in child welfare and California’s foster care system. After completing her graduate studies and training, she continued to work in the child welfare system for 2 years before transitioning into clinical practice. During her formative years of clinical practice, Skyler worked in community mental health agencies serving youth and young adults as an individual mental health therapist. She has extensive experience working with this population to address issues of trauma, relationship challenges, commercial sexual exploitation, and much more. Skyler’s clinical work inspired her to utilize her expertise to train various individuals, community agencies, and county offices on the impact of commercial sexual exploitation as well as the impact of vicarious trauma on those in the helping field. Skyler emphasizes the importance of self care for all and the value of honest inner reflective work to promote healing and personal growth.

Honorable Randolph Marshall Collins serves as Chief Judge for the Pueblo of Acoma Tribal Court. Judge Collins held senior legislative positions for the Governor of Maryland and as well as serving a policy director and general counsel on Virginia gubernatorial campaigns.

Jessica Martinez is a Special Immigrant Classification Act (SIJCA) – Implementation of the new law protecting vulnerable youth.

Sarah Meadows is the Director of the Office of Performance and Accountability at CYFD.

Kourtney Munoz joined Santa Fe Recovery Center in 2022 to launch their marketing, PR and communications department. She is a business professional with nearly 20 years of marketing and communications experience for both private and non-profit organizations.

Grace Nailor, LMSW is a member of the Pueblo of Picuris, New Mexico. Since November 2019 she provides consultant support for indigenous families, the Indian Child Welfare Act, NM Indian Families Protection Acts and administrative support on a provisional basis for the Office of Tribal Affairs for the Office of the Secretary with the Children, Youth and Families Department.

Monica Newcomer Miller is the Managing Attorney of the Children’s Program at the New Mexico Immigrant Law Center where she oversees legal services for children seeking representation in the immigration process. She has over 20 years of experience working in the field of immigration as a social worker, paralegal and now lawyer.

Hendrix Olson (they/them) is the NM GSA Network Program Coordinator for the northern region of New Mexico. They moved to New Mexico in 2015 to attend the Institute of American Indian Arts, from which they received their Bachelors of Fine Arts in 2019. In 2015, Hendrix attended their first NM GSA Network program and proceeded to participate as a youth council member for the NMGSAN up until they became a staff member in 2019. While co-creating anti-oppression curriculum and activities for QT2s+ and allied youth through the youth council, they also began to learn about and engage with local organizations and changemakers through organizations like Tewa Women United, the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women, and The Red Nation. Throughout the past (almost) decade in New Mexico, they have had opportunities to organize and facilitate workshops and social/emotional support programming for QT2s+ youth and allies from a local to national scale.

Stephanie Olson is an Inspirational Speaker, International Podcaster, Author, and CEO of The Set Me Free Project, a prevention education organization on human trafficking, social media safety, and healthy relationships. Before founding The Set Me Free Project, Stephanie worked with women in the area of sexual and domestic violence, addition, and homelessness. She also worked with youth teaching healthy relationships.

Kim Parks-Bourn is the Program Manager for the Children Missing from Care program at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Kim has over 28 years of experience as a licensed clinical social worker in child welfare, mental health and child-serving systems of care work as a local management board director in Harford County, Maryland.

Donalyn Sarracino, LMSW is a member of the Pueblo of Acoma and the proud mother of three children. Since October 2019 serves as the Director of Tribal Affairs with the Office of the Secretary – for the New Mexico, Children, Youth and Families Department.

Alena Schaim is the Executive Director and Instructor at Resolve, a violence prevention organization that serves Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and Northern New Mexico. She has been working to prevent violence and support survivors for over a decade. Her work centers around helping people shift beliefs that shape norms and speak up for themselves & others.

Christina Sisneros, Ed.D is the Indian Child Welfare Training Coordinator with the Office of Tribal Affairs with the Office of the Secretary – for the New Mexico Children, Youth, and Families Department. Prior to working with CYFD, Christiana worked as a school administrator for the Santa Fe and Espanola Public Schools.

Virginia Tenorio is an ICWA Worker for the Santo Domingo Pueblo. She has worked for Santo Domingo Family Services for 15 years. She provides advocacy, support, and cultural connections for all Santo Domingo Pueblo ICWA cases.

Stephen Taylor is an attorney and executive director of (De)serving Life, a newly-founded organization dedicated to meeting the needs of New Mexicans impacted by changes to juvenile parole. Stephen is a former state and federal public defender. He lives in Albuquerque with his wife Amy and 3 teenage children.

Lorilynn is the Co-Executive Director of NMCAN and co-leads the organization to fulfill its mission and oversees the implementation of its strategic goals, objectives, andpolicies. From 2015-2022, Lorilynn served as Director of Advancement, guiding fundraising, communications, public relations, andstrategic partnerships.

Denali Wilson is a staff attorney at the ACLU of New Mexico and a founder of (De)serving Life, a newly-founded organization dedicated to meeting the needs of people in New Mexico impacted by changes to juvenile parole. She works from her hometown of Las Cruces. She is also an artist, dancer, and lover of nature.

Linda Wilson is a Special Immigrant Classification Act (SIJCA) – Implementation of the new law protecting vulnerable youth.

Jacqueline Yalch, MSW is a member of the Pueblo of Isleta in New Mexico. Jacqueline holds a Bachelors of Social Work degree and Masters of Social Work degree from New Mexico Highlands University. Jacqueline serves as the Director for Isleta Social Services and oversees program operations in the components of Child and Adult Protection, Domestic Violence, Family Preservation, Tribal Financial Assistance, Forensic Interviewing, Supervised Visitation and Safe Exchange Program and the ICWA and Foster Care Programs.

Áshįįhí Dine’é from Naa’tsis’aan (Navajo Mountain, AZ) and born for Ta’neszahnii Dine’é from Dziłdahzhinii (Black Spot Mountain, AZ) on the Navajo Nation. Mr. Yazzie is the ICWA Unit Supervisor for the Children, Youth and Families Department Protective Services Division.