Board
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NMERB Board of Trustees
The management of the Educational Retirement Board is vested in a board of nine members. The Board stands in a fiduciary relationship to the members covered under the Educational Retirement Act. Administrative management of the fund is vested in a Director who is appointed by the Board of Trustees. Board meetings are open to the public.
Russell Goff, Chair
New Mexico Association of Educational Retirees
H. Russell Goff is the representative for the New Mexico Association of Educational Retirees (NMAER). He has served as the Executive Director for NMAER since 2002.
Russell began his career as a teacher at Adobe Acres Elementary School in 1964 and served for 37 years in the Albuquerque Public Schools until retiring in 2001. In APS he served as a teacher, activities director, assistant principal, lobbyist and retired as the Principal of Eldorado High School. He also served as Principal of Washington and Wilson Middle Schools in APS. He received his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees from the University of New Mexico and did additional graduate work at Adams State College in Alamosa, Colorado and at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. Currently, he also serves on the Board of Directors of the New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame, where he is a past president, and the New Mexico Coalition of Educational Leaders (NMCEL)
Mary Lou Cameron, Vice Chair
National Education Association of New Mexico
Mary Lou Cameron of Deming has represented the National Education Association of New Mexico on the New Mexico Educational Retirement Board (NMERB) since 1999.
Cameron served five terms as chair of the NMERB from 2010 until August 2020. She also held the offices of secretary and vice chairperson during her tenure and served on the Committees on Resolutions and Nominations for the National Council on Teacher Retirement.
Cameron received her Bachelor of Science in Education from North Texas State University in Denton, Texas, and taught in Corpus Christi, Texas, for three years. She then received her Master of Education from Western New Mexico University in Silver City. Cameron retired in June of 2015 after her thirty-ninth year of employment with Deming Public Schools. During her career, Cameron was a teacher, literacy specialist, staff development coordinator, principal and associate superintendent. Cameron served as president of the National Education Association of New Mexico (NEA-NM) from 1996-2001. She also represented New Mexico as director on the board of the National Educational Association (NEA), member of the NEA-AFT Committee on Unity, and trustee on the NEA Member Insurance Trust Fund.
In addition, Cameron was a member of the State Personnel Board for seven years, serving as chairperson and vice chairperson during her tenure. She also served on the NM Educational Standards Commission as a member and chair; the NM Superintendent’s Blue Ribbon Committee on Education; NM Legislative Education Initiatives and Accountability Task Force; and the NM State Department of Education’s Charter School Task Force.
Larry Magid, Secretary
Governor Appointee
Larry Magid has worked in the financial services industry for over forty years. Mr. Magid has served as a financial advisor for the past 26 years and is currently with Robert W. Baird, Private Wealth Management.
Mr. Magid graduated from the University of Oklahoma, Price College of Business, with a BBA in Economics and Finance. He and his wife have three children and ten grandchildren.
Max Baca
Governor Appointee
Max Baca has served as the Vice President for Finance, Administration, and Government Relations for New Mexico Highlands University (NMHU) since October 2013, responsible for a $90 million budget providing leadership for the institution relative to financial strategies, forecasting, and business operations. Mr. Baca is responsible for the following functional areas: business office (accounting, budgeting, cashier’s office, and external audit); human resources and payroll; purchasing and receiving (procurement, leasing, contracts, credit cards, and risk management); information technology; campus police and security; and the financial operations for campus safety, government relations, auxiliary operations, and athletics.
Mr. Baca’s successful higher education leadership experience spans over three decades. He serves in key executive leadership roles as a trusted advisor, possesses in-depth knowledge of all aspects of higher education operations, and is recognized for developing high-functional teams and for resolving complex issues. He raised unrestricted net assets from $800 thousand to over $10 million in a six-year period despite state funding cuts and declining student enrollment. His solid and in-depth analysis, financial vision and budget allocation has allowed the university to put funding towards initiatives and investments to grow enrollment, retention, marketing efforts and employee compensation contrary to external financial threats.
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His 15 years of government relations efforts raised nearly $15.8 million in new operating dollars and $64.1 million in capital improvement resources. He is a highly sought-after subject matter expert in the state budget and governmental relations arena. He is an accomplished executive leader who served as the chief architect on several university wide technology initiatives to include implementing a networking infrastructure and single sign-on that was considered an effective best practice in the Southwest and throughout New Mexico. His comprehensive operational knowledge led large-scale technology implementations improving the efficiency of processes through university-wide automation. Mr. Baca was recognized by Sterling’s “Who’s Who in the Computer Industry” and was awarded Cisco Corporation’s “Building Scalable Network Infrastructures.”
Mr. Baca is the president and owner of Vivid Solutions, providing expertise and consultation on network operating systems; systems integration with analysis and project management; voice and data networks; emerging technologies; electronic messaging systems; and security systems and analysis. His skills were used to design a nationwide active directory services for Rocky Mountain Technology, whose primary client was developing a pharmacy application for Albertson’s and Savon Pharmacy. He is a recognized national speaker.
He served his country and obtained the rank of First Lieutenant in the US Army. He was the first commander of NMHU’s initial ROTC program, graduated from the US Army Airborne School and achieved distinguished graduate status. He was selected by the 111th Brigadier General to serve as his aide because of his leadership skills.
Mr. Baca serves as chair of the Northern New Mexico Citizens Advisory Board appointed by the Department of Energy. Mr. Baca served as the former President of the New Mexico Technology in Education (NMTIE); former President of the Council for Higher Education Computer/Communication Services (CHECS); Innovate Educate New Mexico board member; and is a statewide Learning Management System Executive Team member.
Mr. Baca achieved his Master of Business Administration degree at New Mexico Highlands University; Bachelor of Business Administration in Management Information Systems; and an Associate’s degree in Computer Technology.
Laura M. Montoya
State Treasurer, Ex Officio
Treasurer Laura M. Montoya was sworn into office on January 1, 2023 as the first female State Treasurer of New Mexico and the first Latina State Treasurer in the U.S. She was born, raised and educated in Northern New Mexico, earning her bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Psychology with a minor in Sociology and her master’s degree in Public Affairs from New Mexico Highlands University. Serving New Mexico for more than two decades in federal, state, tribal and local government, she worked under U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman, Treasurer Douglas M. Brown, and Treasurer James B. Lewis, and was elected to two terms as Sandoval County Treasurer. Laura has worked in several capacities in both the New Mexico House of Representatives and the New Mexico Senate, in addition to serving as the vice-chair of Finance, Pensions and Intergovernmental Affairs, chair of the Next Generation of Young Elected Officials, and several other boards and committees. She is an advocate for financial literacy and teaches finance and treasury classes to county and city employees, elected officials, and union members.
Antonio Ortiz, Designee
Public Education Department
Antonio Ortiz was born and raised in Santa Fe, New Mexico and is a graduate from St. Michael’s High School. He earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees from the University of New Mexico’s Anderson School of Management. Mr. Ortiz joined the Public Education Department in February of 2002 and has served as a Budget Analyst, Capital Outlay Director, School Transportation Director and is currently the Director of Finance and Operations. As a member of the agency’s Executive Cabinet, he oversees the Administrative Services Division, School Budget Bureau, School Finance Bureau and the Transportation/Capital Outlay Bureau.
Mr. Ortiz also serves as the Public Education Department’s designee on the Public School Capital Outlay Council and the Public School Capital Outlay Oversight Task Force. He is committed to working for all students in the state of New Mexico. Most importantly, Mr. Ortiz is a proud father of a beautiful son who is currently attending the University of New Mexico.
Stephanie M. Rodriguez, Cabinet Secretary
Higher Education Department
Dr. Reilly S. White, PhD
AAUP Representative
Dr. White is the Associate Dean of Teaching and Learning and a tenured Associate Professor of Finance at the University of New Mexico Anderson School of Management. Dr. White is also Director for the $5.2 Million student-run UNM Regent’s Portfolio, and leads a series of financial literacy projects in the community. Prior to his career in academia, Dr. White worked as an analyst for a large Boston-based bank, where he learned a great deal about company analysis, funding, and maintaining ethical corporate leadership. He has consulted with investment managers and municipalities on maintaining optimal portfolio strategies, particularly in response to economic challenges. Dr. White was also awarded the 2022 Paul Bartlett Ré Emerging Promotor of Peace Award and is a recipient of the 2022-2023 New Mexico Changemakers Educational Fellowship. In addition to on the Board of Trustees of ERB, Dr. White serves on the of boards of the Cancer Support Community Los Angeles, Voz Collegiate Preparatory School, Voz Collegiate Foundation and the Investment Board of the Museum of New Mexico Foundation.
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In addition to his Ph.D. in Finance from the University of Connecticut, Dr. White graduated summa cum laude from the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth with a degree in Finance. Dr. White has published twenty articles in finance and financial technology in the last few years, including articles in Physica A, Journal of Corporate Finance, IEEE, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, and the Journal of Banking and Finance. With his students, he co-authored Financial Literacy for Immigrants and Refugees, a free financial literacy handbook that has been translated into Spanish, Arabic, and Dari. Since 2020, Dr. White has been interviewed over 350 times by local and national media outlets on various economic and financial topics.
Matías Fontenla
American Federation of Teachers New Mexico Representative
Matías Fontenla is a Professor of Economics at the University of New Mexico. In addition to serving in the ERB’s Board of Trustees, he also serves in the Investments Committee of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), the institution that shaped higher education by helping implement academic freedom and tenure principles at American universities. He also has been elected to the Executive Council of New Mexico’s American Federation of Teachers (AFT) labor organization.
Within UNM, Professor Fontenla has been elected by the general faculty to chair the Committee on Governance, one of the shared governance bodies at the university. He also is the Treasurer of UNM’s faculty union, United Academics of UNM.
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Professor Fontenla’s research focuses on development economics, migration, and financial intermediation, with a regional interest in Latin America. He has published scholarly articles in journals such as World Development, Economics Letters, and Macroeconomic Dynamics. A native from Argentina, he got his PhD in Economics from the University of Texas at Austin and taught at CIDE and the University of Guanajuato in Mexico before joining UNM.
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Managing the retirement assets of New Mexico Educators since 1957.
Business Information
Hours
Monday - Friday
8:00 am - 5:00 pm
Mailing Address
PO Box 26129
Santa Fe, NM 87502
Santa Fe & Albuquerque
Call Center
505-585-3510
Toll-Free
1-800-663-1919
Santa Fe & Albuquerque Fax
1-866-463-9221
Locations
Santa Fe
701 Camino de los Marquez
Santa Fe, NM 87505
Albuquerque
8500 Menaul Blvd. NE, Suite B-450
Albuquerque, NM 87112