Carol Suzuki is a Professor of Law at the University of New Mexico School of Law, where she teaches the Community Lawyering Clinic and serves as the Faculty Advisor for the New Mexico Law Review.  Her teaching, scholarly, and practice areas include torts, asylum and refugee law, family law, delinquency, AIDS law, and elder law.  Professor Suzuki’s father is Kibei Nisei and her mother is from Kobe, Japan.  Her paternal grandfather, who started a celery collective among Japanese farmers in Los Angeles in the 1930s, returned with his young family to Japan in part because the alien land laws in effect at the time prevented him from owning the land on which he worked, limiting his opportunities.  In 2006, Professor Suzuki, along with clinical law students, community advocates, and legislative sponsors, succeeded with a referendum that removed the obsolete alien land act from the New Mexico state constitution.

Kiran Katira is an East-African, Asian-Indian woman, born in Kenya and raised in England. She received her Ph.D. in Educational Thought and Socio-Cultural Studies at the University of New Mexico. For the past twenty years she has worked with local community organizers and leaders through the University of New Mexico's Community Engagement Center, where she facilitates the growth and development of diverse students who apprentice with strong community leaders. Kiran is on the advisory board for the Institute for the Study of Race and Social Justice, RWJF Center for Health Policy and she served as the inaugural chair for the Provost's Diversity Council at UNM. She is on several governing boards, including ones for the NM Asian Family Center and Dorn Charter Community School. Kiran is a national trainer with the People's Institute for Survival and Beyond, where she conducts undoing racism workshops across the nation. She also works with local community leaders to bring these workshops to students, staff, faculty and community members here in New Mexico. She also teaches university courses, which focus on anti-racist education, peace and justice, and critical multicultural education. 

Jaime has over 15 years of public accounting experience. His experience includes auditing a variety of industries such as government, manufacturing and distribution, real estate and construction, technology and life sciences, not-for-profit and investment companies. Jaime specializes in financial, operational and information technology audits. Aside from financial audits, Jaime has experience in fraud investigations, internal audit, SOX compliance and review engagements. Prior to joining Axiom CPAs, Jaime worked for a Big 4 firm, national and regional firms for over 15 years. Jaime holds a BS in Accounting from the Philippine School of Business Administration and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in the State of New Mexico, Colorado and Virginia. He is also a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), and Certified Information Technology Professional (CITP).

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Professional Affiliation and Community Involvement:

• American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Member

• New Mexico Society of Certified Public Accountants, Member

• Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, Member

• ISACA New Mexico Chapter, Board Member (Treasurer)

• New Mexico Asian Family Center, Board Member (Treasurer)

Myra Washington is the Assistant Vice President for Faculty Equity and Diversity at the University of Utah, where she is also an associate professor of Ethnic Studies. Her research focuses on the intersections of race, identity, and culture - especially as it pertains to mixed-race Asian/Americans. As the daughter of a Korean immigrant she is deeply committed to creating and maintaining inclusive and empowering spaces for all of us. She is invested in theorizing and putting into practice all the ways community building happens, especially through highlighting how communities of color act in solidarity with each other.

Linda joined the Rodey Law Firm’s Complex and Commercial Litigation Group after retiring from the New Mexico Judiciary, where she served for 12 years as the first immigrant and South Asian judge on the New Mexico Court of Appeals, including two years as chief judge. Prior to joining the Court of Appeals, Linda was a district court judge in Bernalillo County. She has a background working for large corporations as a safety and environmental health engineer and owned a small business in Taos. Linda is actively involved in several civic organizations and teaches regularly at the UNM School of Law.

Ling Faith-Heuertz is the Executive Director of New Mexico Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement (MESA).  She double majored and received her Bachelors in Mathematics and English Literature from the University of Nebraska and her Masters in Special Education from the University of New Mexico. A transplant from the Midwest who fell in love with the land and people of New Mexico, she has spent over two decades working in the nonprofit sector advocating for the rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and recently returned to her first passion in education. Ling believes strongly in creating unified communities through education and collaboration. She spends much of her free time volunteering for other nonprofit organizations; supporting New Mexico’s youth, and lending a voice to the voiceless in the disability community. As the child of a Taiwanese immigrant, she understands the need for organizations such as NMAFC and is honored to help support the organization and the pan-Asian community of New Mexico.

Alice is a Taiwanese-American attorney and public servant.  She was born in Taiwan and immigrated to Texas with her family almost 40 years ago.  After moving to New Mexico, Alice devoted her career to public interest work, first practicing disability rights law, and then leading state agencies under Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s administration.  Under Alice’s leadership, the NM Developmental Disabilities Council increased the scope of its services and budget by nearly fifty percent in under four years, changed the law extensively to strengthen and improve the state’s distressed adult guardianship system, and created a statewide special education ombud office that advocates alongside students with disabilities and their families—the first program of its kind in the country.  Alice is committed to building and maintaining equitable communities that meaningfully include and integrate all New Mexicans in everyday life, and that fully acknowledge and honor their diverse backgrounds and abilities.

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