Building a Coalition: Uniting Funders, Legislators, and Non-Profits for Lasting Change

CSW Women’s Summit 2023 | ballroom 1:45 – 2:45 pm

This panel will delve into diverse strategies for movement building and explore past coalition efforts in New Mexico. Panelists will discuss their unique approaches to the process of building and advancing movements.

Moderator:Erin Armstrong

Erin Armstrong, Reproductive Rights & Health Law Attorney

Erin Armstrong, JD, is an attorney in Albuquerque, New Mexico, who has spent her career advocating for access to healthcare and reproductive justice. Ms. Armstrong has played a leading role in state-based and national policy change and represented clients attempting to access and provide reproductive health services. Ms. Armstrong has served on the boards of several organizations in the field, including the Guttmacher Institute, If/When/How, and the National Women’s Health Network. She currently serves as Vice Chair of the New Mexico Commission on the Status of Women. She received her law degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and her B.A. from the University of New Mexico. She is the recipient of numerous awards related to her work, including the NM Public Health Association’s Phil Lynch Legislative Award for her legislative advocacy, and the Justice Mary Walters Award from the University of New Mexico Women’s Law Caucus for her ethics, leadership, and mentorship in the legal field.

Panelists

Adriann Barboa, New Mexico Policy Director, Forward Together

In 2012 Adriann Barboa pioneered Forward Together’s first state-based program, Strong Families New Mexico. Adriann works with families and communities across the state of New Mexico to bring about culture shift strategies that recognize the many kinds of families across her home state, and create new policies centered in the lived experiences of everyday New Mexicans. Adriann is a connector, an organizer, and a trainer. She loves to spend her time with families and communities working together toward building the world we all want to live in. She brings together a strong network of organizations and individuals in New Mexico that are modeling how to leverage their people power for the greater good. Adriann brings 15 plus years experience in the direct service and social justice sectors, working primarily on issues of gender, reproductive, anti-violence, education and youth and criminal justice in indigenous and communities of color. She is a proud mother of two loving young adults that bring her joy and keep her grounded.

Dr. Virginia Necochea, Executive Director, New Mexico Environmental Law Center

Dr. Virginia Necochea is a Xicana, mother, organizer, and community advocate. She is the first woman of color to serve as the executive director of the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, a public interest nonprofit law center that works alongside frontline communities in upholding environmental justice. The foundation and drive for Virginia’s work is rooted in ceremony, her Mexican and Indigenous roots, and motherhood. Her lifelong path is to be of service to community and to be a protector of Mother Earth. Virginia is a recipient of the Rachel’s Network Catalyst Award, celebrating women of color who are building a healthier, safer and more just world.

Marshal Martinez, Executive Director, Equality New Mexico

Marshall is an organizer, and has been a political strategist for multiple candidates and organizations. From fighting climate change with the League of Conservation Voters to working for fair pay and safe working conditions with AFSCME-the public employees labor union, these are personal fights because, like all of us, he has lived a multi-issue life.

Born and raised in Alamogordo, New Mexico, to a working-class family and a group of particularly strong women (and a few great men, too!) in high school he worked to educate young people about safer sex. Marshall’s policy expertise focuses on gender and sexuality, bodily autonomy, and reproductive and sexual healthcare. Marshall also prides himself on his skillset for navigating attacks against our values in ways that build power for the communities being attacked rather than just winning the short-term fight. Marshall strongly believes in the African proverb “If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.”

Charlene Bencomo, Executive Director, Bold Futures

Charlene Bencomo is a lifelong New Mexican, wife, mother, Chicana, and former bilingual special education teacher. Her experiences as a Nationally Board Certified educator have given her in depth knowledge on many of the challenges facing families in New Mexico today, and a unique perspective on the supports that help maintain and build resilience. Charlene uses her work and life experiences to educate, inspire, and inform others through her writing and public speaking. Charlene has also taken her experience as a sexual assault survivor to help others find strength in recovery.