NASW-NM - THANKS ALL CONFERENCE CONTRIBUTORS AND ATTENDEES

 Katrina Hotrum-Lopez has been guided throughout her life and her career by a passion to serve the undeserved.

Prior to her appointment as Secretary of ALTSD, Katrina served as the Director of Behavioral Health Services for Bernalillo County (2016-2019), and Director of Bernalillo County’s Substance Abuse Programs. From 2007-2010, Katrina held the role of Deputy Cabinet Secretary for the NM Department of Health, following years of holding many roles at the DOH. Before working at the Department of Health, Katrina worked for six years in the agency she now leads, first as Associate State Ombudsman, then State Ombudsman, and finally as the Director of the Elder Rights Division.

Katrina earned her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, and her Master’s Degree in Family Studies from the University of New Mexico.

Dr. Arsenio Romero, a native New Mexican and son of an educator, has spent the last quarter-century serving New Mexico communities as a school and district leader. Prior to his appointment as Public Education Department Secretary-designate, Dr. Romero served as superintendent of Los Lunas Schools and superintendent and CEO of Deming Public Schools. Dr. Romero also oversaw district curriculum as assistant superintendent for instruction and transformation for the Roswell Independent School District. Since 2013, he has been a lead performance coach/executive coach for PED. He started his career in education as an elementary school teacher and principal for Las Cruces Public Schools. In addition, the secretary-designate has taught at New Mexico State University since 2014 and joined the NMSU Board of Regents in 2020. Dr. Romero’s greatest source of pride is his family. He and his wife Amber, an educator, are the proud parents of four children.efinitely promote it here to get customers excited about getting a sweet deal.

Alice Liu McCoy is the Executive Director of the New Mexico Developmental Disabilities Council. She previously worked as Cabinet Secretary for NM Aging & Long-Term Services Department and as an attorney for Disability Rights NM, serving New Mexicans with disabilities in systemic impact litigation, individual cases, and policy advocacy.

Hilari Lipton is Senior Advisor to the Secretary at the New Mexico Children, Youth, and Families Department. In this role, she is responsible for innovations and agency strategies that improve outcomes for system-impacted families and youth. Hilari also serves as the Project Director for the statewide child welfare information system modernization project. Hilari served as an executive-on-loan at CYFD from the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Jim Casey Initiative. At the Foundation. she specialized in cross-sector collaborations around the country that promote equitable outcomes for older youth, and authentic youth engagement in systems change. Hilari has worked on child welfare and juvenile justice issues for almost two decades and has extensive experience as a legal advocate, policy analyst, and program manager.

Elizabeth Groginsky has 25 years of experience administering public and private human service organizations at the national, state and local levels. In November 2019, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham appointed Groginsky as the first cabinet secretary for the newly created New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department. Under her leadership, the new department acted swiftly to stabilize the child care industry during the pandemic, secured long-term funding for early childhood programs and services, and implemented a historic expansion of the state’s child care assistance program.

Prior to her appointment as ECECD Secretary, she served as the assistant superintendent of early learning for the District of Columbia, where she ensured equal access to quality services for the District’s most vulnerable children and their families. 

 Elizabeth was the first executive director of the Early Childhood Data Collaborative, a national coalition to improve state policies and practices in the development and use of early childhood data systems.

Elizabeth holds a master’s degree in social sciences from the University of Colorado at Denver and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland.

Neal Bowen, Ph.D. is a psychologist and the Director of the Behavioral Health Services Division (BHSD) in the New Mexico Human Services Department, overseeing all behavioral health services in the state. Prior to his appointment in this role by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, Dr. Bowen served as the Chief Mental Health Officer for Hidalgo Medical Services, a Federally Qualified Health Center located on the Mexico border in an underserved and economically challenged rural area. In 2011, Dr. Bowen was named the Behavioral Health Provider of the Year by the New Mexico Primary Care Association. Dr. Bowen became a psychologist later in life, after working to defend human rights in war zones, among other occupations. Witnessing a project in Sri Lanka created by a Dutch psychologist training village health workers to provide mental health first aid inspired him to obtain training in psychology. After initial work in Milan, he obtained degrees, including a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology, from the University of Texas at Austin. While there, he was awarded a fellowship for his work with refugees, culminating in the creation of The Sunrise Center, a mental health agency for refugees and asylum seekers. He joined the faculty of Central Washington University where he conducted research in multicultural competencies before moving to New Mexico.