Mateo Ortega-Hernandez joined Conservation Legacy as a staff member in July 2026, serving as Senior Program Director for Conservation Corps New Mexico (CCNM) in Las Cruces. He is a graduate of the School of Social Work at New Mexico State University. Mateo brings more than 27 years of experience working with youth and communities across Southern New Mexico, including senior nonprofit leadership roles spanning behavioral health, housing, restorative justice, and youth-serving programs for BIPOC, LGBTQIA+2S, and system-involved populations. Earlier in his career, he served as a Division I collegiate coach, an experience that shaped his lifelong approach to leadership, team culture, and developing young leaders. His nonprofit work has centered on funding and business development, program design, strategic planning, and storytelling and communications, including managing the Outdoor Legacy Project, which provided youth with opportunities to develop a mutually caring relationship with the outdoors and access to land and nature-based healing. His background spans strategic leadership, grant writing, and funding development, having generated millions of dollars in annual funding and managed multimillion-dollar program portfolios. Mateo is a certified trainer in Mental Health First Aid and Positive Youth Development. A tenth-generation New Mexican with direct roots in the Piro, Manso, and Tigua Pueblos of the Mesilla Valley, Mateo carries a personal connection to this work: his grandfather was a soil conservationist, and for him, land stewardship has never been abstract - it's ancestral. Outside of work, Mateo and his husband spend much of their free time with their two granddaughters and their two poodles, and they love to travel together. Mateo also enjoys hosting, cooking, and spending time outdoors with his family. He is honored to bring his lineage of care for people and place to CCNM's mission.

Genevieve started out with a career dream of becoming a radio host. While living in Arizona, she fell in love with the desert and began seeking opportunities that would involve being outdoors. She joined an AmeriCorps field crew in fall of 2009 and never looked back. Since then, she's held a myriad of outdoor positions including trail maintenance, stream habitat ecology, watershed monitoring, wildlife surveys, and even bat mortality monitoring! She's lived in 9 different states and in Central America, and is always looking for more travel opportunities. On her days off you can find her hanging out with her son, baking, or doing yoga.

Joy grew up in El Paso, TX and developed a passion for nature and the outdoors during camping trips to nearby Ruidoso, NM and summer vacations visiting National Parks with her grandparents. Graduating from UT Austin with a degree in Zoology, Joy’s professional career spans wildlife research, animal science and more recently, work as an administrative coordinator for a nonprofit nature preserve in Austin. Joy worked closely with interns and volunteers in this position and is excited to support the IP program at Conservation Corps New Mexico. Personal contribution is very important to Joy, and she was a volunteer Texas Master Naturalist for 6 years, participating in land stewardship and public outreach. She hopes to continue volunteering in the Southwest and completed Certified Interpretive Guide training in preparation for leading hikes. When she’s not working or volunteering, Joy can be found hiking with her dog Luna, practicing Spanish or summoning the courage to ski one day.

SamJean joined AZCC/CCNM in 2019 as an individual placement intern, working with the BLM New Mexico State Office in development and outreach programming. The opportunities in her internships gave her the privilege to travel all over the state. Fostering relationships between federal agencies and local communities throughout NM was the foundation of her service for public lands. The chance to become a part of the staff for CCNM became available in 2021, currently she is an IP Program Coordinator for CCNM. Originally raised in the hill country of central Texas. She now calls the Chihuahuan desert home for her family. As an artist herself, she has always found a way to incorporate the arts into her passion for land stewardship and reconnecting peoples with the natural world. Much like the medley of colors in a southwest sunset, it takes all of us to see the big picture of possibility. 

My name is Kimberly and I have always had an interest in conservation work and spending time outside. After graduating with my bachelor’s in biology from New Mexico State University, I worked a couple of various field jobs doing a little bit of everything: trail work, kayaking, backpacking, and ecological surveys, until getting the opportunity to work a little closer to home in Las Cruces for CCNM. Being born and raised in New Mexico; I really appreciate any opportunity I can get to work in the southwest and help preserve the land that I grew up in.

Bethany grew up in Oklahoma but yearned for the desert and mountains. In 2025 she joined Conservation Corps New Mexico as a crew member and served three seasons. Bethany has a background in business management so when the opportunity came to become the Administrative Specialist for CCNM she took it. It means a lot to her to be able to support the organization that brought her so much joy, and she hopes that she can bring that feeling to others who are starting their own conservation journey. She enjoys everything the outdoors has to offer, and you can commonly find her appreciating it in any form.