The International Forum on Local Sustainable Development is an event that promotes sustainable social justice through institutional collaboration, equitable polices, and available resources for at risk populations.

It is all about how local efforts thorough local governments and civil society’s institutions enhance the means to achieve social justice.

The forum will provide an opportunity for comprehensive discussions and reflection to advance social justice and to implement policies at the community level.

The event will include international and local exchange of ideas and will establish collaborative networks to advance social justice through sustainable policies and institutions.

Join the Division of External Affairs and Western New Mexico University as our guest speakers present their expertise on the topic of social justice and sustainability.

A warm welcome to our guests from the Universidad Catolica and UNIVA.

This is a hybrid event. Click here to access Zoom.

Presentation Titles: Overview of US Criminal Justice System in perspective. The importance of Global Human Rights.

Dr. Damon Bullock Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Criminal Justice.

He began his career at WNMU in August 2013.”My philosophy to education is that each student present has a strong desire to learn and to develop skills that will assist the student in becoming a competent and innovative professional”.
Education:

Ph.D. In Sociology, Texas Woman’s University
M.A. In Liberal Studies, University of Arkansas at Little Rock
B.S. In Sociology, Minor in Biology, University of Arkansas at Little Rock

Research and academic interests

“My interests include race and diversity in the military, structural functionalism in social institutions, disparities in minority conviction rate, and internal dynamics of social institutions. Collaborative work relations and cooperative involvement are an integral part of my research and academic interests”.

Professional Memberships

Alpha Kappa Delta Sociology Honor Society
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.,
Alpha Phi Omega Co-Ed National Service Fraternity
Golden Key Honor Society
Leadership Institute
Military Officers Association of America
NAACP
National Guard Association of Arkansas
Shamrock-Trinity Lodge #435 F & A.M.-P.H.A.
Sigma Alpha Pi Leadership Honor Society

Adriana Martinez Landaverde is the Consul for Community Affairs, at the Consulate General of Mexico at El Paso, she is a member of the Mexican Foreign Affairs since 1998 and has been appointed as Consul for Community Affairs in El Paso since 2016.

She is in charge of the community programs in benefit of the Mexican nationals in El Paso, Hudspeth and South New Mexico. Among the programs that she handles are Education Orientation, Health Services and Financial Literacy for the vulnerable community in the region.

Formación académica

Centro de Estudios Superiores en Ciencias Jurídicas y Criminológicas: Posdoctorado en Política, Estudios Sociales y Culturales. (terminado)

Centro de Estudios Superiores en Ciencias Jurídicas y Criminológicas: Doctorado en Administración y Políticas Públicas.

Universidad del Valle de México: Maestría en Ciencias Penales.

Cédula: 9045260

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México: Licenciado en Derecho (Titulado)

Cédula: 6712657

experiencia

Universidad del Valle de Atemajac | Profesor en Ciencias Jurídicas Penales,

Derecho Administrativo, Derechos Humanos e Inglés 09/ 15 – Actualidad.

Info Metrópoli. Medio de Comunicación| Columnista, manejo de información y representante legal de la empresa

02/13 – Actualidad

Profesional Independiente | Asesoría a gobiernos municipales, funcionarios públicos y diputados. Litigios en materia administrativa. 01/16 – Actualidad

Nexus Consultoría Empresarial y Gubernamental |  Asesoría a gobiernos municipales, capacitación jurídica a diferentes funcionarios públicos. Litigios Civiles, Penales y Laborales.

02/13 – 01/16

Comisión Nacional de Investigación de Derechos Humanos  | Litigios Civiles, Penales y Materia Agraria.

03/12 al 01/13.

Profesional Independiente  | Litigios Intestamentarios, Jurisdicciones Voluntarias y Juicios Ejecutivos  Mercantiles.

01/05 al 05/11.

Despacho Jurídico Carrasco y Asociados  | Abogado Litigante en materia Civil y Mercantil.

– Resolver litigios Intestamentarios, Jurisdicciones Voluntarias y Juicios Ejecutivos Mercantiles.

01/99 al 12/01.

servicio social

Compañía: Secretaria de Hacienda.

Periodo Comprendido: 01/98 al 07/98.

Áreas de Desarrollo: Apoyo en el departamento de normatividad.

cursos

Curso de Inglés en Lewis and Clark Community College. Godfrey, Illinois. (No Titulo).

Examen de Inglés TOEFL. (acreditado)

iDIOMAS

Inglés: Lectura 90%, Comprensión 90% y Hablado 90%.

ACTIVIDAD PROFESIONAL ACADÉMICAS

Participación en las mesas ciudadanas de Seguridad y Justicia.

Ponencias relacionadas con el Nuevo Sistema Procesal Penal.

Participación en Foros Binacionales entre México y Colombia.

Conferencias del Sistema Judicial de Estados Unidos.

Presentation Title: The Importance of Fairness and Justice in the Criminal Justice System.

David Gorman is an Assistant Professor who began at WNMU in January 2023

Education

B.S. City and Regional Planning, New Mexico State University
J.D. Gonzaga University School of Law

Research and academic interests

My research interests include disparity in sentencing, mental health in the criminal justice system, and human/sex trafficking on the border.  My academic interests include being part of a collaborative effort to effectively prepare students for whatever career path they choose within the criminal justice system.

I served as a Guardian ad Litem for abused and neglected children for over ten years.  I have volunteered in pro bono clinics set up by the Sixth Judicial District and provided pro bono legal work for many community members.

Presentation Title: The Importance of Fairness and Justice in the Criminal Justice System.

Spenser Baca is an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice. He began at WNMU in January 2020

“My teaching philosophy is to keep it practical. Every student who invests effort should be rewarded with a significantly better-informed perspective of life outside the textbook and classroom. I believe understanding big picture policy, procedure, and case law begins with boiling things down to the profound and routine practical implications the criminal justice system has in people’s everyday lives”.

Education

J.D. University of Pittsburgh School of Law

While at Pitt Law Spenser was a Jonas Salk Fellow, Patient Safety Fellow, Death and Dying Fellow, Gismondi Fellow, Marshall Brennan Constitutional Literacy Fellow, recipient of Pitt Law’s Community Service Award, and nominated for Pitt Law’s Distinguished Public Scholar of the Year Award.

B.S. Sociology Western New Mexico University

Research and Academic Interests

As a practicing attorney I take great interest in the mastery of effective communication in regard to managing client relationships/expectations, negotiation, and litigation. Academically I am interested in access to justice issues specific to communities in rural America and same for access and affordability to healthcare. Critical Race Theory, feminist legal theory, and end of life decision-making and the right to die are also academic areas I am enthusiastic about.

University and Community Service

I do pro bono legal representation for involuntary commitment cases and as guardian ad litem or respondent’s attorney for abuse and neglect cases when appointed by the court. I like to volunteer for the Commons: Center for Food Security and Sustainability and previously served on the board of directors. I currently sit on the New Mexico Community Development Council.

Gil Najar is the Director of the Police Academy and Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at WNMU.

He began his career at WNMU in August 2012. He was the Director of SOE at Western New Mexico University since Jun 2012

Education:

ABD, Grand Canyon University

MBA, New Mexico Highlands University

B.S., University of Albuquerque

 

Presentation Title:

International Partnerships that Support Trans-Border Student Success.

Abe Villarreal is the Campus Dean at Cochise College in Douglas, Arizona and serves as a member of the Presidential Counsel.

He holds a master’s degree in educational leadership from WNMU. His previous roles include Assistant Dean of Student Support at WNMU and Teacher at Calvary Christian Academy in Silver City, NM.

He has been a volunteer with many organizations including C.A.M.E Migrant Center, Silver City Gospel Mission, and Mustang’s Care.

“I’m passionate about the lives that we change every day in the amazing world of higher education. Now more than ever, we need to give students of all backgrounds and origins, the opportunity to a quality education. Together, we can make that happen. Arriba y adelante”!

 

Dr. Jennifer Johnston is a media psychologist and Associate Professor of psychology at Western New Mexico University. She was also a licensed mental health clinician for 15 years before entering academia.

She conducts research in the intersection of media effects and psychological disorder and serves as the chair of the Institutional Review Board for WNMU.

Dr. Johnston’s research on the media contagion effect and mass shootings has been featured over 100 times in international and national newspapers, television, and radio. She has been invited to present her research in the U.S., Canada, and to the Federal Commission on members.

Currently she is working on how to shift public perception of harm reduction efforts to support life-saving legislation in New Mexico and other states. She collaborates with scholars from diverse fields, as well as her students, to reduce violence and improve the mental health and well-being of all people.

Presentation Title: Mobility, Equity and the Rural-Urban Nexus.

S. Otto Khera, is the External Affairs Director for Grants and Rural Initiatives and Project Director, Title V/Con Ganas at Western New Mexico University.

He holds an MBA, and MS Online Communities. ABD, PhD (Learning Technologies and Mobilities) His dissertation completion is projected for May 2024.

In addition to his role as Director of Grants and Rural Initiatives, Khera is a peer-reviewed published media, online learning, and mobilities researcher focused on the intersections of non-neutral physical and virtual spaces and how we move and represent ourselves, and how we interact with social networks and communities in that spatial-mobility context.

Khera is a 2023 USDA E. Kika De La Garza Education Fellow.

 

 

District Attorney Renteria was born and raised in Deming, N.M., and has spent nearly all his life contributing to and impacting this small-town community.

He is a Deming High School graduate (with honors), class of 1980. He attended graduate school at NMSU working towards a Master of Public Administration degree in 1986 and obtained his Juris Doctor degree in 1999 from the University of New Mexico (UNM) School of Law.

His pre-law experience includes employment as a Community Youth Organizer for the Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces; as a Protection Service Worker/Investigator for the Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD); as a Truant Officer for the Deming Public School system; as a Juvenile Probation and Parole Officer in Luna County, New Mexico; as an In-School Suspension Monitor and Varsity Athletics Coach in various sports at Deming High School.

He has been a practicing attorney for 17 years with legal experience or background as Assistant District Attorney at the Luna County Office in Deming, N.M. (1999-2001); an Associate Attorney at the Law Office of Robinson, Quintero and Lopez, P.C., in Silver City, N.M. (2001-2002); and now owner and sole practitioner at the Law Office of Michael R. Renteria (2002-present).

“My area of professional practice over the years has mostly centered or focused on cases pertaining to criminal defense, neglect and abuse, and family or domestic relations law”.

He also served as the Pro Se Clinic attorney in Deming and Lordsburg, N.M. (2003-2012), as well as Guardian ad Litem (2001-2002) and Respondent Attorney assigned to children and mothers involved in child neglect or abuse cases (2002-present).

 

Presentation: An Overview of International Services of the American Red Cross.

John Gravel is the Regional Program Manager and Service to the Armed Forces with the American Red Cross in Arizona and New Mexico.

For the past 7 years, he has been the Service to the Armed Forces/International Services Program Manager for New Mexico

He graduated from the College of Santa Fe in 1983 with a degree in business and has served 21 years in Civil Air Patrol, Auxiliary of the Air Force.

Ruth Dirmeyer is the Coordinator at Grant County Continuum of Youth Services in Grant County.

She attended WNMU and received a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice with a Corrections Concentration and a Minor in Spanish.

She helps provide “services for prevention of delinquency, alternatives to secure detention, improvement of the juvenile justice system, and the development of a continuum of graduated sanctions for juveniles in local communities”.

 

Nayomi Valdez joined the ACLU as its Director of Public Policy after serving as District Director for Congresswoman Xochitl Torres Small. In those two years, she worked to ensure that stakeholders at every level had access to their government and that constituents received the service to which they are entitled.

As a grassroots organizer, Nayomi worked to raise awareness around food justice, education, immigration, and reproductive rights. From there she went on to manage and work on various campaigns at the local, state, and federal level. She takes pride in having helped to elect leaders that represent and uplift our most marginalized communities and working to address the issues we all face through policy and legislation.

Nayomi is a native New Mexican whose family settled in the Loma Parda valley hundreds of years ago, where they still farm today. She has migrated between Albuquerque and Las Cruces her whole life and has deep ties to both communities. She currently resides in Las Cruces with her two daughters, her partner, and their three dogs: Stout, Mila, and Zia.

Nayomi holds a bachelor’s degree in communications with a minor in Philosophy from the University of New Mexico

 

I was born and raised in Grant County and attended WNMU. I retired from Silver City Police Department after working 20 years. I also worked 3.9 years with Grant County Sheriff’s Office.

After my retirement from Law Enforcement, I worked 10 years with Freeport McMoRan as Sr. Health and Safety Specialist and Human Resources.

I held the positions of Chief and Deputy Chief with the Silver Police Department. The majority of my career was in Captains position.

Currently I’m a Chair of the Grant County Commissioners Office. I have been in office 5 years just started my 2nd, 4-year term.

I’m also on the board of directors for NM counties. I am the vice-chair of the Chief Elected Officials.

 

 

Presentation Title: Working Together to Build a World of Peace and Justice for all.

Rosemary Farrell is a Clinical Director and Play Therapist at El Refugio, Inc. in Silver City, New Mexico.

She has been a registered Play Therapist Supervisor since Aug. 15, 2007, to present.

She received her Master of Social Work (Clinical) from New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico in 1995.

In her current position she trains and supervises master’s level Interns from counseling and social work educational programs.

 

Sheriff Raul D. Villanueva was elected as Grant County Sheriff, and he took office on January 1, 2023. He has over ten years’ experience working as a Sheriff and began his career in law enforcement in Hurley, NM in 1990.

He worked for the Silver City Police Department for two years, until he achieved his goal of working for the Grant County Sheriff’s Department. His initial law enforcement training was completed at the Western New Mexico Police Academy in Silver City.

He completed many specialized training courses including Critical Incident Management, SWAT Training, Gang & Drug Interdiction, Advanced Accident Investigation, Desert Snow Interdiction, Instructor Development, Defensive Driver Instructor, and Criminal Investigations.

“I believe that a sheriff should not only be a successful and experienced law enforcement officer, but he or she should be a community leader, a leader who works for the betterment of the County”.

 

Presentation Title: New Path Forward

Joseph Andazola became the Warden at the Grant County Detention Center in December of 2021.

He has over 10 years of experience as a Deputy Warden and held a position as Correction Officer specialist / Classification Officer with the New Mexico Department of Corrections from Jul 2003 – Mar 2011 · 7 yrs 9 mos

He is a graduate of WNMU with a Bachelor of Applied Science in Criminal Justice and Corrections.

 Jessamyn Snider is a Spanish instructor and Cultural Events coordinator at the Douglas Campus and was born and raised in rural New Mexico.

She feels honored to receive the NISOD award and enjoys serving students, the community, and Cochise College. She encourages her students to apply their learning in a broader context beyond the classroom, helping them expand their education and personal goals.

“This approach motivates students to examine themselves more deeply.”