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Group pushing for government transparency in New Mexico elects new board members
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What do a state Supreme Court justice and a newspaper editor have in common? They’re the newest members of the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government board of directors.
The nonprofit, which advocates for government transparency, has elected Wende Schwingendorf, managing editor of Albuquerque Business First, and Barbara Vigil, former Supreme Court justice and District Court judge, to the board.
Schwingendorf is a lifelong New Mexican and is connected to media, business, nonprofits and government decision-makers, according to a news release.
Vigil served as a civil practitioner before pursuing civil rights and discrimination claims for her clients. In her three-decade legal career, she served as a judge for the 1st Judicial District, which includes Santa Fe, Rio Arriba and Los Alamos counties, and was chief justice on the New Mexico Supreme Court from 2014 to 2016.
The FOG board also elected new officers for 2024: Jessica Onsurez, news director for the USA TODAY Network-New Mexico, president; Lucas Peerman, Albuquerque Journal sports editor, vice president; Rashad Mahmood, New Mexico Local News Fund co-director, secretary; and Sammy Lopez, executive director of the New Mexico Press Association, treasurer.
The board also includes immediate past president Karen Moses, retired Albuquerque Journal editor; Santa Fe attorney Daniel Yohalem; and Mary Lynn Roper, retired general manager of KOAT TV 7.
