When Terry Mulert took the reins of the Northern Foundation as Executive Director in 2015, he set out to cultivate relationships between community leaders to grow philanthropy in the Valley. Thus, the Northern Foundation Leadership Circle was born.

The eighth consecutive quarterly meeting of the Leadership Circle convened on April 20, 2017, at the Mision y Convento in downtown Española.

Almost 30 guests attended the roundtable to discuss the Española Strategic Plan, listen to Santa Fe’s Meow Wolf CFO Drew Tulchin share experiences in economic development through partnerships, and hear from Andrea Romero, Executive Director of the Regional Coalition of LANL Communities.

“I have heard people in other counties talk about doing this – collaborating and consistently gathering for the greater good – but here in Rio Arriba, we are really doing it,” Carole Rutten of the LANL Community Programs Office remarked.

These regular gatherings include a NNMC President’s report provided by Dr. Richard Bailey followed by a Q & A and discussion about the college’s role in the community.

“Northern New Mexico College has always been a hub for community action, and we want to provide that platform for a long time to come. The Leadership Circle is a loosely formed, ever-evolving group of individuals representing diverse causes and geographies, but we come together to share a humble meal and find solutions to community problems,” Mulert optimistically explained.

“We all want the same thing - a vibrant, healthy and thriving northern New Mexico.”

In 2016, NNMC hosted the Healthy Communities Summit with Congressman Ben Ray Lujan, which was the outcome of ideas and discussions by participants at the Leadership Circle.

More recently, the Leadership Circle helped Rio Arriba county recruit for and organize the Northern Heritage Leadership Institute project.

For more information, contact Terry Mulert, tmulert@nnmc.edu.