Teresa C. Gomez joined Futures for Children as President and CEO in August 2012. She is responsible to ensure relevant and meaningful opportunities and programs are available to American Indian youth to improve the well-being of American Indian communities primarily in Hopi, Navajo, Pueblo and Mescalero Apache communities in Arizona and New Mexico as well as the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma.
Teresa has worked extensively with Tribal governments and various governmental agencies at the federal, state, and local level. She has been instrumental in building and strengthening Tribal-State relations and collaboration, and has played a key role in major policy initiatives including the NM Tribal Infrastructure Act, State-Tribal Collaboration Act, and the Indian Education Act.
Teresa has been an active community member having served on numerous boards and commissions including the Governor’s Women’s Health Commission, NM Behavioral Health Purchasing Collaborative, and the Continuum of Care Review Committee. Additionally, she served as the Vice-President and Secretary of the YWCA of the Middle Rio Grande, is a graduate of the 2008 Core class of Leadership New Mexico, and was an advisory member of the Robert Wood Johnson – Ladder to Leadership Initiative. Teresa was recently appointed to serve on the Board of the NM Medical Insurance Pool. She is a lifetime member of AISES.
In 2006, Teresa was appointed by Governor Bill Richardson to serve as the Deputy Cabinet Secretary for the New Mexico Indian Affairs Department, and was the first Pueblo woman to hold this post. She also served as the Deputy Cabinet Secretary for the NM Department of Workforce Solutions and as the Deputy CEO for the NM Behavioral Health Purchasing Collaborative. Teresa was the Acting Executive Director and Deputy Director of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES). In her various capacities at AISES, Teresa advocated for policies relating to Indian education, diversity, and equity.
Teresa is an enrolled member of the Pueblo of Isleta and is a life-long resident of New Mexico, and has dedicated her career to serving Tribes and advocating for issues affecting American Indians. She earned a Master’s Degree in Political Science from the University of New Mexico, focusing her studies on Race and Ethnic Politics with an emphasis on American Indian Politics. Teresa co-authored “American Indian Women Leaders: Public Policy and the Importance of Gender and Ethnic Identity” which appeared in the journal – Women & Politics.
Teresa C. Gomez
President/CEO