New hires, promotions: Albuquerque Journal Business Briefcase

Welcome

Julie Nielson has joined

Kirtland Credit Union as chief financial officer. Nielson brings 30 years of combined experience in financial services, credit union and executive level leadership. Kirtland Credit Union currently serves more than 51,000 members both online and at eight branch locations across Albuquerque, Rio Rancho and Los Lunas.

Rebecca Swanson has joined the

Albuquerque Regional Economic Alliance as director of marketing and communications. Swanson was formerly a communications specialist for the City of Albuquerque handling media relations for the police department. Prior to working at the city, Swanson was a broadcast news reporter for more than a decade, reporting for the local CBS affiliate and in various other news markets throughout the country. Swanson will be responsible for communications both internally and externally to include press releases, press conferences, social media and marketing for AREA. The Albuquerque Regional Economic Alliance is a 501(3) nonprofit organization that aims to lead and execute strategies designed to grow and diversify the economic base of the greater Albuquerque region.

Gabe Gallegos has joined

Sunny505 as strategy & partnerships manager. Gallegos returns to the Sunny505 team with a background in paid media, integrated campaigns, digital strategy, political consulting and audience research. Previously, he worked in digital strategy for the leading advertising technology company Basis Technologies in the Candidates & Causes group, advising national political campaigns, policy-focused organizations, and governmental relations clients on digital strategy. Gallegos began his career at Sunny505 with the paid media department after receiving his degree at the University of New Mexico. In his new role, Gallegos will build strategic relationships with new partners in New Mexico and around the country.

Applause

Priscilla Dakin, principal of

Dakin Business Group has been honored by the International Business Brokers Association with a Chairman’s Circle Award. Awards are given based upon transactions completed in calendar year 2022. The IBBA Chairman’s Circle Award is given to those individuals who closed one or more qualified business deals amounting to $3 million and above in total purchase price during the 2022 calendar year. Dakin has more than 30 years of experience, and has worked in a number of industries — from manufacturing to health care, retail to publishing and more. She has bought and sold companies, served as managing partner in joint ventures, been the sole leader and part of leadership teams in both for-profit and not-for-profit enterprises, and operated concerns as large as $30 million in revenue. Formed in 1984 and with nearly 2,700 members, the International Business Brokers Association is the largest international not-for-profit association for business brokers.

Felicia Chavez, manager of

Starbucks at Avanyu Plaza, has been selected as the region’s “Leader of the Quarter” for her team’s performance from January through March of 2023. Chavez was selected for this prestigious award out of 176 stores and leaders in the Starbucks region that covers the greater Denver metro area and extends through New Mexico. Founded in 1976 by the 19 Pueblo tribes of New Mexico, the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center is a museum and cultural center located in the historic 19 Pueblos District.

Promotion

Cheryl Cates has been promoted to the

Village of Los Lunas finance director. She began her career with the Village last June as an accountant. With 40 years of experience, Cates was the finance director of Delta Group Electronics, a multi-million-dollar manufacturing company prior to joining the Village of Los Lunas. She also worked in medical, retail, wholesale, construction and manufacturing. She received an accounting degree from Penn Foster College in 2010.

Etc.

Annam Manthiram, chief executive officer at

HopeWorks, has accepted the CEO role at CitySquare, a poverty-fighting organization in Texas that provides solutions for housing, food and health services. Manthiram first joined HopeWorks in 2017 as the chief development and communications officer and was promoted to co-CEO in November 2020, and then CEO in July 2021. She is the first woman, and person of color, to serve as CEO of HopeWorks in the agency’s nearly 40 years. Founded in 1985, HopeWorks is one of the largest nonprofits serving the needs of individuals and families experiencing homelessness or near-homelessness in New Mexico. Since 1988, CitySquare has served Dallas, a city in which more than 300,000 people live in poverty.