(Santa Fe, NM) – Conservation Voters New Mexico (CVNM) today announced that Sandy Buffett plans to transition out as Executive Director (E.D.) after eight years. CVNM’s Board of Directors is currently leading a national search for her successor. Buffett will step down Saturday, March 16th, after working for conservation in her last legislative session as CVNM’s Director.
“We are grateful to Sandy Buffett for her service to CVNM and the conservation movement as a whole,” said Sarah Propst, CVNM Board Chair. “Her dedication and vision have helped build CVNM into a strong political voice for conservation in the Roundhouse and throughout New Mexico.”
“In the past eight years, under Sandy’s leadership, CVNM has built the membership base, the policy reputation and the financial stability to be a strong force for positive change in New Mexico,” said CVNM Education Fund Board Chair Jon Goldstein. “As a board, we are very enthusiastic about where this organization is and where it will go in the years ahead.”
This transition comes as CVNM is in a strong position with a hugely successful election behind it, a strong Board of Directors, high-performing staff, and a bold agenda at the legislature.
“This has been a bittersweet decision but I feel great that the organization is in an incredibly strong place and ready for this leadership transition,” Buffett said. “For the next two months, we are totally dedicated and focused on the work and laying the groundwork for a successful and positive transition. With the next generation of leadership, CVNM will continue to build the political voice for conservation.”
Over Buffett’s tenure, CVNM defeated 100% of the bills attacking New Mexico’s clean air, land and water each and every legislative session. Among these hundreds of bills and measures, CVNM defeated a tax subsidy for a new coal plant, a tax giveaway for a sprawling development on Albuquerque’s west side, and successfully called for a line-item veto of funding to study a potential diversion on the Gila River, New Mexico’s last free flowing river. CVNM also led the legislative charge in 2010 to establish a fund for projects that restore and protect our water quality, forests, wildlife habitats, and working farms and ranches.
In the recent 2012 election, CVNM’s political action committees (PACs) succeeded in electing six out of eight of their top priority legislative races, despite being massively outspent by an oil and gas super PAC. Finally, over the last eight years with Buffett’s leadership, CVNM’s budget has quadrupled and staff has doubled.
Conservation Voters New Mexico, a nonpartisan, non-profit 501(c)(4) organization, works to protect New Mexico’s natural environment and our cherished way of life. Our mission is to make sensible conservation policies a top priority for elected officials, political candidates, and voters across the state.
Applicants interested in the job posting can find it here.
Contact: Liliana Castillo, Communications Manager, 505.992.8683
