2024 Board of Directors

Chairperson

CATLIN HERRERA

Catlin has lived in New Mexico for her entire life. She enjoys exploring all the thrift and antique stores in the small towns of New Mexico while looking for the best places to get Huevos Rancheros. She enjoys spending time outside, hiking and traveling. Catlin has volunteered with NMVFO since 2021, doing trail work.

Vice Chairperson

CHRISTY OSMON

Christy grew up in the shadows of the Rocky Mountains in Denver, CO. After moving to Albuquerque, she fell in love with all of the hiking and backpacking opportunities in New Mexico. She is a hike leader for ABQ Hiking and Outdoors Meetup up and NM Backpackers Meetup. It was during her thru-hike of the Colorado Trail that she realized it was time to start giving back to the trail system. Since then she’s done trail maintenance work with the CDTC and NMVFO, and began leading NMVFO projects in 2022. Christy is happiest when she’s outside and active, and she looks forward to more time working on the trails.

Secretary

ANNA FLESSNER

Anna spent her formative years among the cornfields of central Illinois. After receiving a Master’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois, she relocated to Munich, Germany. While there, she discovered a passion for the outdoors, spending weekends hiking, biking, and skiing in the Alps. She boomeranged back to the US in 2018, ultimately ending up in Albuquerque. Anna participated in her first NMVFO project in March 2019 and has been involved in numerous projects since then. She enjoys all of her time spent on the trails, getting to know new people and new places in the lovely state of New Mexico. She is a Project Leader and leads the Financial Development Team.

Treasurer

GENA ROBERTSON

Gena has been involved with NMVFO since 2015 and has been a Board member since 2016. She has served in the roles of project leader, website administrator, chairperson, and treasurer. She is a Project Leader and leads the Finance Team.

ROB SELINA

Rob moved to New Mexico in 1996 and has spent the last 23 years in Socorro. He is an active mountain biker and hiker, but he also enjoys backpacking, bikepacking, camping, hunting and rafting. Rob started informally maintaining trails in the Socorro area with other trail users 15 years ago, and since 2020 has helped organize the Socorro Trails group to work with the local land managers on more extensive trail maintenance and trail development projects in the Socorro area. Rob started volunteering with NMVFO in 2021, became a project leader in 2023, and a board member starting in 2024.

RICHARD SAYRE

Richard grew up in northern California and began hiking as a child at Lassen National Park. He lived throughout the US before moving to New Mexico in 2011 to direct the renewable fuels program at Los Alamos National Lab. Richard is currently the Chief Scientific Officer at Mercury Bio in Santa Fe. In 2021, Richard joined NMVFO. He is also involved with the Gila Chapter of the Backcountry Horsemen of NM and serves as a CDT sectional trail adoptee doing trail maintenance near Coyote, NM. Recently, Richard has taken up bikepacking with the goal of completing the NM section of the Great Divide Trail.

LAURIE LACEY

Laurie has lived in New Mexico for over 50 years and loves the variety of outdoor spaces that this state has to offer. She is an outdoor enthusiast with a particular interest in the National Park system. A graduate of UNM, Laurie is now a retired teacher/librarian with a strong commitment to conservation. She has been an educational volunteer at the ABQ BioPark since 1993 and is an Open Space volunteer. Laurie participated in her first NMVFO project in 2021. She is happiest on the trail or watching the sunrise/sunset over the Sandias.

EMILY BLAIR

Dr. Emily Blair is a sports chiropractor with a love of all things outdoors. Her previous jobs were in the legal field and in graphic design. She previously served on the NMVFO Board in years past. Her favorite activities include hiking, paddle boarding, kayaking, camping and, of course, VFO projects.

DAVID BROUDY

David began cooking for NMVFO in 2019, learning how projects are organized and some of the art of maintaining and repairing trails. He and his wife Rifka enjoy birding, skiing and hiking. In 2021, amidst cooking for five NMVFO projects, they completed 3 sections of the Colorado Trail and attempted but didn’t quite summit a fourteener. Retired from a career in public health, David brings to the Board skills in project planning, GIS, data analysis and evaluation. David is on the Sandia Peak Ski Patrol where he’s a first aid and CPR instructor, and cooks for the NM Ski Swap. He leads the Cooks Team.

JULIA PLEWS

Originally from the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois, Julia relocated to Albuquerque in 2015 after studying at the University of Illinois. She immediately embraced the unmatched beauty and ruggedness of the outdoors in the state of New Mexico. Julia began volunteering with NMVFO in 2019, gaining a new perspective on what it means to make trails accessible and enjoyable, while working alongside some stellar people in the process!

Julia has logged numerous hikes in the Sandia Mountains and surrounding ranges, and she also enjoys getting outside to trail run, rock climb, backpack and camp, ski, bikepack, and road cycle. When not outdoors, Julia is an avid ice hockey player, and volunteers as a girls’ hockey coach in Albuquerque. She is a Project Leader.

DAN POTTER

Dan grew up a Connecticut Yankee, and has since lived in New Hampshire, Illinois, Massachusetts and Texas. A retired archeologist, Dan received his BA at Northwestern and an MA from Harvard. He worked in various parts of North and Central America and Africa. Moving to Santa Fe County in 2014, he got involved in local trail work, and finally found NMVFO in 2018. Dan’s favorite trail tool: McCleod, favorite trail: Middle Fork of the Gila, favorite author: Bill deBuys of El Valle, NM.

2024 Board Associates

Name Position
Jim Sells Projects Coordinator and Website Team Leader, Archive, Training, and Tech Teams Member, Strategic Planning Team Member
Don Lemke Newsletter, Member Management, and Volunteer Recognition Team Leader; Archive, Strategic Planning, and Tools Team Member
Cheryl Dodd Social Activities Team Leader
Larry Benson Tools Team Leader, Business Operation, Training, and Social Activities Team Member
Jeff Duray Finance Team Member
Ed DiBello Financial Development, Outreach, and Strategic Planning Team Member
Benjamin Bernard Social Media Team Member