Pamelya P. Herndon
Executive Director
Pamelya Herndon is a former Deputy Cabinet Secretary and General Counsel in New Mexico State government. She received her Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Howard University in Washington, DC and her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Texas School of Law.

Ms. Herndon has an impressive professional career that includes serving as a senior litigation attorney with the Internal Revenue Service and as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of New Mexico. She is licensed to practice law in the states of Colorado and New Mexico, and before the United States Tax Court and United States Supreme Court. She is also a Certified Public Accountant licensed in the State of Texas. Ms. Herndon has taught courses at the University of New Mexico Law School and most recently served as counsel with the Ahr Law Offices in Albuquerque. She has helped train paralegals and legal secretaries at Brookline College.

Ms. Herndon has worked to help an array of women of all races and ethnic backgrounds achieve their full economic and personal potential. She is a long time member of the National Council of Negro Women and sits as a member of the Board of Directors of Emerge New Mexico. Pamelya Herndon serves as the 1st Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of US New Mexico Federal Credit Union and President of the Board of the Con Alma Health Foundation. She is a strong advocate of the New Mexico Youth Entrepreneurship program where she helped a young woman of mixed heritage achieve her goal of writing a winning business plan for a future business. Ms. Herndon has been a leader in Emerging Young Leaders, a program spearheaded by the international Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. The program focuses on improving the social and educational stature of girls. On some Sunday mornings, Ms. Herndon can be heard as the Southwest Gospel Diva hosting the Train to Glory radio program on KUNM.

Ms. Herndon says she is humbled by her selection and is excited about the new challenges that await her. In addition to her focus on developing economic and educational programs for girls and women, Ms. Herndon will continue to carry out the core mission of the Law Center that includes eliminating gender bias, discrimination and harassment; lifting women and their families out of poverty; and ensuring that all women have full control over their reproductive lives through access to comprehensive reproductive health services and information.

Dorene A. Kuffer
Legal Director
Dorene A. Kuffer is the Legal Director for the Southwest Women’s Law Center and principal in the Law Office of Dorene A. Kuffer. Previously, she served as Deputy Director for New Mexico Legal Aid, a statewide legal services organization. Dorene received her JD from the University of Illinois College of Law and LLM in Child and Family Law from Loyola University Chicago School of Law. Prior to moving to New Mexico, Ms. Kuffer was with the Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender in various positions: Supervisor in the Felony Trial Division, Chief of the Training Division and Chief of the Juvenile Justice Division.

In addition to her legal skills, Ms. Kuffer trains lawyers in trial and management skills and in the substantive law. As a trainer she has worked with Management Information Exchange, the National Legal Aid and Defender Association and the National Juvenile Defender Center. She sits as an appointed member of the New Mexico Access to Justice Commission where she is on the Systems Planning and Rules Committees.

Linda Malott , Office Administrator
Ms. Malott joined the Southwest Women’s Law Center in October, 2009. She grew up in New Mexico and has been a career paralegal. Before joining the Center, she served as Office Administrator and Paralegal at Malott Law Offices. She has over twenty-five years’ legal experience with primary emphasis in civil litigation, including torts, product liability, wrongful death, and personal injury claims. She has previously served on the Paralegal Advisory Board of CNM Community College and Escuela del Sol Montessori. She is also a Realtor and member of Greater Albuquerque Association of Realtors and NAR.

Kyle Marie Stock is the George M. Fleming Health Law Fellow at the Southwest Women’s Law Center. Ms. Stock is a graduate of the University of Texas School of Law. During law school she co-founded the Texas Chapter of Law Students for Reproductive Justice. She also served as the Vice President of the Public Interest Law Association and was a member of the Student Advisory Board of the William Wayne Justice Public Interest Law Center. Kyle was the third recipient of the UT Law Equal Justice Scholarship, a full tuition award for individuals pursuing a public interest law career. Prior to law school, Kyle earned a degree in Anthropology from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

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Jillian Gonzales, President
Jillian Gonzales, a native New Mexican, received her Master’s degree in Health Education from New York University. She spent eight years providing education and training to adolescent and adult populations throughout NYC and NYS. Her work spanned reproductive health, comprehensive sexuality education, domestic violence prevention and intervention, HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, outreach worker training and substance abuse services both in harm reduction and therapeutic residential facilities.

Upon returning to New Mexico, Ms. Gonzales has focused on organizational change and development including workplace communication, conflict resolution, team-building and managerial development. She prides herself in providing group specific training and education in an interactive and dynamic style. She strongly believes that the best learning comes from within the group as well as her own resources.

Ms. Gonzales has served on the Sandia Preparatory School Board as the alumni representative as well as volunteered in her immediate community with the elementary school, pre-school and food bank. Most recently, Jillian joined the Board of the Southwest Women’s Law Center.

In her spare time, Jillian focuses on her home environment, family and social change.

Bonnie Bell Cundiff, Ph.D. – Vice President
Dr. Cundiff received Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Purdue University and her Ph.D. in Organizational Communication from Temple University. She has been a member of the Academy of Management and SIETAR (The Society for Intercultural Education, Training and Research), and served on the Board of Sanctuary for Families, a unique agency that provides emergency/transition shelter, clinical counseling and legal services for victims of domestic violence and their families, in New York City.

With over twenty years of consulting experience, Dr. Cundiff has worked with many clients in different industry segments to improve service delivery and overall organization effectiveness. Some of those clients include: Consolidated Edison, Citigroup, American Express, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Philip Morris, Merck, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and Wesleyan University.

In the not-for-profit sector, Dr. Cundiff frequently works with Board Development and Organizational Reviews. She helps organizations identify, clarify and prioritize their visions and goals while establishing clear milestones to measure progress. She also helps these organizations streamline their processes to support their goals. She is currently also a board member of Chamber Music Albuquerque and the New Mexico Teen Pregnancy Coalition.

Maria DeAnda Hay, J.D. - Treasurer
Maria DeAnda Hay has a diverse background in public law, private practice. legal services, and small business. She is a graduate of Mills College, Oakland, CA and the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco, CA. She has served as counsel to the New Mexico Secretary of State, as deputy county counsel for Santa Clara County, CA, and as an associate attorney in private firms. Ms. DeAnda Hay served as the co-director and development director of a non-profit organization funded by the Legal Services Corporation. She also owned and managed a micro-business in Santa Fe, NM for eight years.

Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, J.D. – Secretary
Antoinette Sedillo Lopez is Professor of Law at the University of New Mexico School of Law. She teaches courses ranging from election law to family law and the access to justice clinic. Professor Sedillo Lopez is a member of the UNM Feminist Research Institute and an associate with the Southwest Hispanic Research Institute. She is a member of the Access to Justice Commission, and president of the Board of Enlace Comunitario. She has published Family Law in New Mexico with Barbara Shapiro and a wide range of articles, several of which address domestic violence and issues facing women and members of minority groups. She recently published an article about cultural competence.

Alexandra Freedman Smith, J.D.
Alexandra Freedman Smith is an attorney in Albuquerque, New Mexico who has worked in the areas of criminal defense, class action litigation, personal injury litigation, civil rights, and civil litigation. Ms. Smith was admitted to the New Mexico State Bar in October of 2002. She attended the University of New Mexico School of Law from which she graduated Cum Laude and Order of the Coif in May 2002. In law school, she was a member of the moot court team and won an award for Best Brief in the ABA National Moot Court Competition for the Pacific Region. She was also the recipient of the Sutin Award for Advocacy. Ms. Smith won an ACLU cooperating attorney of the year award in 2008 for her pro bono civil rights work. In 2007, in conjunction with the Southwest Women’s Law Center, Ms. Smith co-represented a woman accused of child abuse due to her prenatal drug use. She co-authored a brief in the New Mexico Supreme Court in that case which succeeded in protecting women’s civil rights during pregnancy. Ms. Smith is a founding Board member of the Southwest Women’s Law Center, and also serves on the Board of the New Mexico Women’s Justice Project, a non-profit organization serving women and girls in the criminal justice system.

Jenny Black
Jenny Black has been the President and Chief Executive Officer of Planned Parenthood of New Mexico (PPNM) since 2008. She has been a committed part of the Planned Parenthood team since 1999. PPNM is a statewide social profit organization that provides affordable reproductive healthcare through its five medical offices located in Albuquerque, Rio Rancho and Santa Fe. It also provides comprehensive sexuality education throughout New Mexico in schools, community groups and after-school peer education programs. In collaboration with like-minded community partners, PPNM advocates for policy, legislation and funding that reduce unintended pregnancy and disease, and ensures access to safe abortion in New Mexico. PPNM is a high-quality, fee-for-service organization that is sustained by medical office revenue, foundation grant funding, government contracts for education services and private contributions.

Ms. Black leads a staff of approximately 63 and a volunteer base of 70, including working with a Board of Directors of 14 professionals from the communities served by PPNM.

In 2002, Ms. Black earned the Career Development Grant from the American Association of University Women to pursue a Master of Business Administration. She was awarded an MBA in July 2004, from the Anderson Schools of Management Executive Program at the University of New Mexico. New Mexico Business Weekly included Ms. Black as an honoree on their 2009 list of 40 Under Forty people to watch.

Danice Picraux
Representative Picraux is a member of the New Mexico House of Representatives and a former Democratic Majority Leader of the NM House of Representatives. She currently serves as Vice Chair of the House Appropriations and Finance Committee and Chair of the Interim Committee on Health and Human Services. Representative Picraux was recognized as an emerging state leader by the Council of State Governments and awarded its Henry J. Toll Fellowship in 1997. In 2002, she completed the John F Kennedy School of Government Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government. Ms. Picraux has a long career advocating on behalf of women and girls.

Claudia Medina
Claudia Medina is an immigrant from Colombia who has spent the last 20 years (since the time she came from her country) working on immigrant rights and domestic violence issues in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Claudia is a co-founder and the executive director of Enlace Comunitario (EC) in Albuquerque. Founded ten years ago, EC provides comprehensive services and advocates to improve laws, policies and practices that enhance battered immigrant women’s rights. The organization also works with members of the Latino community in efforts to prevent domestic violence. Claudia has co-founded three other agencies: El CENTRO de Igualdad y Derechos, which works on advancing immigrant rights; Mujeres en Accion, a women’s income generating project; and the Plaza de Encuentro, a newly formed immigrant center that provides educational and civic engagement opportunities to Latino immigrants in NM. In addition, Ms. Medina is a member of the advisory board of Encuentro Latino National Institute on Family Violence; a member of the Executive Committee of the NETWORK, a group of state wide domestic violence and sexual assault providers and government entities dedicated to eliminate violence against women in NM; and a board member of the NM Human Rights Coalition. Ms. Medina also participates in the NM Coalition Against Domestic Violence; the NM Human Trafficking Task force, the NM Death Review Team; the Enforcement of Protection Orders Task Force and the Coalition for Health Care Access, among other groups. Ms. Medina has a Law Degree, MA on Family Studies and MA in Latin American Studies.