Patty Komko has been the Executive Director of Leadership New Mexico since December of 1996. She is responsible for administering the policies, programs, and budget of LNM.

Patty is a native of Washington State and received her Masters of Administration at the University of Oregon in Eugene. The former owner of Becker & Associates, a successful consulting firm in Albuquerque, Patty spent several years as Executive Director of the American Heart Association of New Mexico, at their national headquarters in Dallas, Texas, and in Portland, Oregon. When she was offered the position of Executive Director of the Heart Association of Albuquerque she fell in love with New Mexico and it became her home.

Patty attended Leadership Salem when she lived in Oregon and became involved in Leadership Albuquerque when she moved to New Mexico in 1989. Ron Zee, who was the Executive Director of the Multicultural Leadership Institute at Santa Fe Community College, convinced Patty and several others, including Nancy Shepherd and Marge Black from San Juan College and Tom Macken of the Macken Law Firm, to help start Leadership New Mexico.

They believed that New Mexico’s future prosperity would be directly dependent upon the quality and contributions of its leadership. The concept became a reality and in 1995, they formed a founding board of directors. Bob Simmons of Lovelace Sandia Health Plan was chairman of the board, and Bill Garcia, now retired from Intel, also served on the board. Patty gives the credit for the success of the organization to her board, the 80 to 90 graduates who volunteer annually, and her extraordinary staff, Cheryl Monfette, program Director, and Maria Esquivel, Special Projects Director.

In 1995, the McCune Charitable Foundation gave LNM a grant to get started. They incorporated in December of 1995, and Patty was asked to come on board as the acting Executive Director. In the fall of 1996, 32 people from all over New Mexico attended the first Core Program. Sherman McCorkle provided the first office space and Patty worked in the Technology Ventures Corporation office for five years at no cost to the organization. In the early days, Sherman would introduce Patty to key people in Albuquerque. Doors began to open for the organization. Today, Wells Fargo Bank and PNM, two of the founding sponsors, continue to provide office space for the organization.

According to Patty, “There’s a lot that is really special about New Mexico—the cultural diversity, rich history, including the art, great outdoor activities, and the people.

“ New Mexico is large in size, but not so large in population. False barriers exist through geography, culture, political affiliation, and gender. If you can get through those barriers—learning to work with people on a level of respect—you can listen to their ideas even if you don’t agree. That is what we do.

We take a group of people who are culturally, geographically, and socially diverse and get together and share ideas.”

The courses are stringent and have attendance requirements. This is a senior level, manager-leader type of organization. Leadership New Mexico hosts large corporations as well as medium and small family owned businesses in the programs. Many family-owned businesses are now being run by the second generation.

Patty is proud of the statistics, “Out of 389 people who have begun the program, only 20 people have not completed it. Three of those have come back to repeat the class and graduate. This puts the graduation rate for the Core Program at almost 96 percent.”

Patty emphasizes that it is highly important to maintain diversity in the Core Program. “We only take 10-12 people from Albuquerque and then reach out to as many different communities as we possibly can. Generally 35 percent of our groups are women. We have representation from the Hispanic, Native American, and African American communities. LNM is a nonpartisan organization,” she continues. “Many pro-con issues are presented —and if we do a great job with an unbiased, apolitical presentation, people will decide where they stand.”

Leadership New Mexico is people oriented, like its founders. There are three programs offered through LNM: the Core Program, the Local Government Leadership Program, and the Alumni Program. Active solution-sensitive courses are taught by accomplished New Mexico leaders, most of them graduates of the Core Program.

The Core Program is ten months in duration and addresses current issues facing the state regarding health and human services, economic development, education, environment and natural resources, government, crime and justice, and of course, leadership. It is open to all citizens of New Mexico. Each year, Leadership New Mexico selects a class of 40-45 outstanding, established leaders in public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Participants must be committed to serve New Mexico and be accomplished in their own company or organization as well as dedicated to volunteer or community activities. These candidates should be seeking future key volunteer or appointed leadership roles and commit to remain within New Mexico.

The Local Government Leadership Program is an educational partnership involving the New Mexico Association of Counties, the New Mexico Municipal League, and Leadership New Mexico. This 2 ½ day intensive program was designed to broaden leadership capacities of elected officials while creating a higher level of civic and community concern.

The abbreviated course is appropriate for municipal and county officials. Scholarships are donated by the Arthur A. Blumenfeld Foundation, whose contributed funds enable small municipalities and counties to participate.

Topics such as the history and demographics of New Mexico, economic development, education, environment and natural resources, health and human services, crime and justice, and personal leadership skillbuilding workshops head the list of this program. These power-packed sessions feature speakers who are vibrant and proven leaders in their specific fields in New Mexico. Since its inception two years ago, 45 municipal and county-elected officials from 17 municipalities and 15 counties have graduated from the program.

As a result of ten years of success, Leadership New Mexico has launched an Alumni Program. LNM now has 369 Core Program alumni and participants in 36 communities throughout the state. The goals for this program are to further education and challenge the thinking and perspectives of graduates. By interacting with graduates from other classes, alumni continue to be exposed to a wealth of education and regional perspectives.

Patty’s enthusiasm for the organization and passion for her adopted state is boundless. She says, “We have a great opportunity to create an impact, to make a difference, and to make New Mexico a great place to live, work, and raise a family.”

For more information, contact Leadership New Mexico at leader@leadershipnm.org or the LNM office at (505) 241-4800.

Connie Thompson is a writer, director, and producer of creative, corporate, and motivational video scripts, articles, and press releases. Contact her at (505) 994-1977, or at multimediasavvy@aol.com.