Board of Directors
Institute Executive Director Manny Encinias Ph.D is congratulated by Board Chair Michael Knight. Photo: Lisa Kantor Photography

Our Board Members

Providing leadership for the Institute

Michael Knight

Board Chair

Michael has 30+ years of experience working for global professional services firms.  Michael was the Managing Director of Client Management Services at Wellington Management Compa...

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Pam Walker

Vice Chair

Pam is a writer and a local farm and food activist.  She is the author of Growing Good Things to Eat in Texas: Profiles of Organic Farmers and Ranchers across the State (Texas A...

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Mary Dixon

Secretary, Green Tractor Farm

Mary Dixon has lived in Santa Fe most of her life. She graduated from Santa Fe High School in ’71 and UNM in ‘75, taught elementary school and pre-school for many years, manage...

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Kyle Burns

Treasurer

Kyle Burns (Treasurer) is a native of Santa Fe and moved back to the city in 2014 after spending four years living and working in San Francisco. Currently Kyle is a registered inv...

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Ami Caldwell

Board Member

Ami Caldwell grew up in Santa Fe, and after living other places she returned to her hometown where the culture, landscape and food fill her heart, mind and belly with joy. When she...

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Christine Castro

Board Member

Christine Castro has more than 25 years of experience leading communications and public relations functions for global brands in the entertainment, technology and biotech sectors....

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Nathanial Earls

Board Member

Nathaniel Earls was born and grew up in Kansas City, Missouri. He moved to Santa Fe to attend St. John’s College, a rigorous liberal arts college “focused on the most importan...

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Robert W. Jones, JD

Board Member

Robert W. Jones is a native of Texas, but has spent more and more time in Santa Fe over the last 10 years and now calls The Land of Enchantment home for a big portion of the year....

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Lisa Kantor

Board Member

Lisa Kantor grew up in Tucson, Arizona.  After receiving a BA in Spanish from Arizona State University, she pursued a graduate degree at the Universidad Ibero-Americana in Mexico...

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Kaitlyn Kimzey

Board Member

Kaitlyn is a financial services professional in Santa Fe and an advocate for local agriculture. Her experience as a ranch hand and wrangler on cattle operations in Colorado forged ...

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David Loeb

Board Member

David Loeb founded Dirigo Consulting LLC in 2017 to advise hotel and real estate businesses on strategy and capital markets execution. Engagements have included assessing balance s...

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Diane Sandoval-Griego

Board Member

Diane Sandoval-Griego is the Chief of Financial Empowerment at Guadalupe Credit Union, where she has worked for 15 years. She is very passionate about identifying needs in the co...

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Gail Wadsworth

Board Member

Gail Wadsworth was born and raised in Colorado. She is the former Executive Director of the California Institute for Rural Studies (CIRS). Retired after 10 years, she moved back to...

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Val Wilson

Board Member

Val Wilson has worked in veterinary medicine for 15+ years. She currently is the Director of Veterinary Operations at Animal Humane New Mexico. She and her husband Grant, also own ...

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Andrea Fisher Maril

Executive Director (ex officio)

Andrea Fisher Maril grew up in rural Iowa and has gardened in Santa Fe, southwest Iowa, upstate New York, south Texas and Oklahoma. She previously spent two decades at the helm of ...

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