NMCSAP Staff

Alexandria Taylor, MPA, LMSW
Executive Director

Alexandria Taylor (she/her), Niecy as her beloved community knows her, is the Executive Director at the New Mexico Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs, where she supports the services provided by the thirteen rape crisis centers in New Mexico, as well as the 32 sexual assault coordinators within community mental health agencies across the state. In her role as Deputy Director, Alexandria provides technical assistance, develops training, provides leadership on community-based initiatives and policy efforts. Alexandria also coordinates the Institutionally Underserved Workgroup, which is a collaboration between advocates working with institutionally underserved communities within New Mexico. Prior to joining NMCSAP, Alexandria was the Executive Director of Valencia Shelter Services in Los Lunas, NM. Alexandria Taylor has keynoted and trained statewide and nationally on anti-oppression and institutional bias in social services. Alexandria serves on the Board of Directors for the ACLU-NM and is currently attending the Columbia University in New York, NY. Born and raised in New Mexico, a major portion of Alexandria’s existence is spent contemplating and living out radically mothering her son.

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Kim Alaburda, BA
Director of Operations

Kim Alaburda has led the Coalition for over 33 years as Executive Director. She created and took the position of Director of Operations in late 2022, continuing as a part of the NMCSAP leadership team, while enthusiastically welcoming fresh, dynamic, new leadership. Her accomplishments include advocating for the policies, services and medical needs of victims of sexual violence in rural, Native, border and urban areas of New Mexico. Along with the NMCSAP team, NMCSAP has been able to increase the Coalition’s staff from 1 in 1985 to 17 in 2022, and the budget from $67,000 in 1985 to $9.2 million in 2022. Kim and the team were able to use these increases to guide the Coalition’s substantial research efforts, technical assistance to sexual assault/SANE programs, create programming specific to people with disabilities and Native American communities, and more than double the state’s rape crisis centers, SANE units and prevention projects.

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Michelle Aldana, LMHC
Statewide Director of Forensic Services

Michelle Aldana began her career in 1996. She was previously the director of The Children’s Safehouse, a program of All Faiths Children’s Advocacy Center. She spent many years conducting forensic interviews of children, and adults with developmental delays, who were disclosing abuse or who had been witness to violence. In 2008 she became the director of the forensic services program at All Faiths. She coordinated and facilitated multiple multidisciplinary teams within the state as well as provided training on topics such as trauma-informed child abuse investigations and the process of disclosure for children. She has conducted and observed well over 7,000 forensic interviews and testifies as an expert in the field. Ms. Aldana has advanced studies in criminal justice, special education teaching, and mental health counseling. She was previously a special education teacher, but always knew that her passion was in facilitating children’s voices to be heard. Her passion also grew in helping grown-ups understand the process of disclosure for young victims and teaching developmentally appropriate and trauma-informed skills to partners working in the field of child maltreatment. Michelle loves to travel, spend time with friends and family and take on lots of DIY projects. She has three children and her wish is that every child could experience the love that she feels for hers.

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Kim Benally
Director of Tribal Sexual Assault Services/Researcher

Kim Benally (she/her) is the Director of Tribal Sexual Assault Services/Researcher. Kim leads research efforts on services and resources available for Indigenous peoples with the goal of increasing available culturally specific services. Kim has a background in non-profit management, organizational development, and positive youth development, but has found her heart lies in advocacy for survivors. She is pursuing a Doctorate of Educational Leadership at the University of New Mexico and is a citizen of the Navajo Nation from Hogback, NM.

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Rose Cary, MA
Office Assistant

Rose Cary (she/her) joined the Coalition in 2022 as the office assistant. She holds a B.A. in English Studies and an M.A. in Elementary Education. Rose has previously worked as a kindergarten teacher. In her office assistant position, Rose provides resource referrals for survivors and those who serve them statewide; assists with the production, distribution, and tracking of Sexual Assault Examination Kits (SAEKs), the collection and organization of Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) data, various data input, and general office support. Outside of the Coalition, Rose enjoys volunteering with Planned Parenthood, listening to music, and spending time with her cats, Halloween and Salami.

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Jess Clark
Director of Sexual Violence Prevention

Jess Clark is the Director of Sexual Violence Prevention for the New Mexico Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs, a transgender education consultant, and the host of Both/And: A Sexual Violence Prevention Podcast. His work over the last decade has focused on building local capacity for sexual violence prevention, exploring queer and trans masculinities as sites of violence prevention, and supporting organizations in better serving transgender communities through policies, best practices, and learning to be like his grandma. Jess has previously served on the Board of Directors for Girls Inc. of Santa Fe and Transgender Resource Center of NM and currently serves on the Board of Trustees for Southwestern College.

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Stacy Blazer-Clark LMSW
Statewide SANE Director

Specializing in treatment of sexual assault victims and child victims of abuse has been my focus. I worked in the non-profit sector alongside many others who envision a world without violence. I spent 13 years with La Piñon Sexual Assault Recovery Services and then made a transition to provide statewide support as the New Mexico Statewide SANE Director. I proudly participate in the Reproductive Health Board Advisory Committee to expand services to Southern New Mexico. Social work is a passion that guides my professional world. I am an NMSU alumni and received my bachelors and masters degrees. I was given the opportunity to work as an instructor at NMSU in 2019 and have continued this journey. I love sharing knowledge and experience with students who will one day do the same work beside me. This work has all been done with the support of my husband and 3 amazing sons. If you find me spending some time for self-care it is usually watching a sporting event with my boys, but my favorite athlete is local and keeps us entertained.

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Rachel Cox, LMSW
Deputy Director of Programs

Rachel Cox, LCSW, has worked in the field of interpersonal violence for 20 years. She has worked as a domestic violence advocate, sexual assault program coordinator, child and adult therapist and clinical director of a domestic violence and sexual assault agency. Her experience in direct service informs the guiding principles of her approach to supervision and leadership. Ms. Cox has many years of experience helping implement client-driven services models and is a strong advocate for intentional supervisory structures to support trauma service organizations. Ms. Cox has worked with organizations around the country to facilitate organizational change to improve service quality for survivors and their families.

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Kathleen Donlin, BA
HR Coordinator, Accounting Assistant, SAEK Coordinator

Kathleen joined the Coalition contractually in June of 2010 and became a full time staff member in 2018. In 2011 Kathleen assisted the Community Justice Project Director for the Legal Assistance for Victims Grant. During her time at the Coalition, Kathleen has done a variety of jobs from administrative to accounting to human resource tasks. This position has also allowed her to use her creative talents to help with everything “office” including brochures, signs, and helping with many conferences/trainings at our office or around Albuquerque. Kathleen also coordinates the production and distribution of the Sexual Assault Evidence Kits (SAEK’s) directly with the SANE Coordinator. Kathleen’s latest role of HR Coordinator has allowed her to use her over 15 years experience in office administration/management to do her work for the Coalition, its clients, and its staff.

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Melissa Ewer, JD
New Mexico Children’s Alliance (NMCA) Director

Melissa joined the Coalition in 2019 as the New Mexico Children’s Alliance (NMCA) Director. She has spent her professional career over the past two decades advocating for survivors, working in the non-profit, academic, and government sectors to create positive change, earning local, state, and national recognition for her work. She provided free legal services to adult and child immigrant survivors of abuse for over fifteen years before transitioning to statewide federal grant oversight for non-profits and government agencies serving victims of crime in New Mexico. She holds a B.A. in Latin American Studies from Vassar College and a J.D. from the University of New Mexico School of Law.

Currently, Melissa administers and implements the goals, objectives, and policies of the NMCA, which serves as the leading resource within the state for Children’s Advocacy Centers (CACs). She provides leadership, training, and technical assistance, and works in partnership with NMCA member programs to increase visibility of and support for the NMCA and CACs while also promoting awareness about child abuse and the CAC model.

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Carla Gallegos Ortega, BBA
Project Manager and PREA Coordinator

Carla Gallegos-Ortega joined the Coalition in 2006. She has written and managed several VAWA grants that provide specialized training for tribal law enforcement and prosecutors training on sexual assault in Indian Country. She has also provided statewide training for sexual assault investigation for law enforcement, sexual assault prosecution for prosecutors, scholarships for law enforcement officers and prosecutors to attend national trainings on investigating and prosecuting sexual assault, domestic violence, stalking and teen dating violence cases as well as provided equipment to law enforcement agencies to aid in the investigations of these crimes. In 2015 Ms. Gallegos-Ortega took an interest in PREA (Prison Rape Elimination Act). She focused on writing VAWA grants for PREA training for county detention centers, NMDOC, and youth detention centers. In 2017 Carla became one of the PREA Coordinators for the Coalition. She also assists in logistics for all Coalition hosted trainings.

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Ellen Gatewood
Contract Manager, Medical Billing Coordinator

Ellen Gatewood began working with the Coalition in 1988. She is the program coordinator for the sexual assault medical bill program that provides payment for the medical exams for all sexual assault victims following an assault or the discovery of abuse. She has managed VAWA grants to provide trainings to rural law enforcement officers and prosecutors on investigating and prosecuting sexual assault, domestic violence, and stalking crimes. Currently, Ellen manages subcontracts with sexual assault nurse examiners programs, sexual violence prevention programs, and rape crisis centers. Ellen also coordinates the Adolescent Sex Offender Treatment training project, which provides training for therapists and other professionals who work with adolescent sex offenders.

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Christy Lucky, CPA
Chief Financial Officer

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Virginia Pérez-Ortega
Director of Community Collaborations on Access and Inclusion

Prior to this position, she was a Resource and Outreach Coordinator at the National Sexual Violence Resource Center. Locally she has experience coordinating a community-based crime reduction project with the Office of Bernalillo County District Attorney. She is also an independent consultant, provides training, facilitation and coordination of victim advocacy related projects and events on the topics of domestic and sexual violence prevention. Ms. Perez-Ortega is an English-Spanish translator and interpreter. She is an experienced media campaign coordinator, community event planner and a successful community organizer. Virginia is a social and human rights activist with over 15 years working to end violence against all women and girls. In her previous role as Violence Prevention Director for a local NGO, she developed and implemented community-driven gender violence prevention programs; she also pioneered one of its kind prevention program of men against family violence. She is committed to social justice and to improving the conditions of those affected by inequalities. She is about making a better life for each other through family, culture, caring, discipline, fun, collaboration and action. She is the proud mother of 2 beautiful children. Virginia was born and raised in Mexico and has lived in New Mexico since the late 90s. She holds a BA on Community Development from UnADM (Universidad Abierta y a Distancia de Mexico and an AA on Business Graphics and Communications from Central New Mexico Community College.

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Elena Rubinfeld, JD
Legal Director

Elena Rubinfeld (she/her) is the Legal Director for the Coalition. In this role she provides legal education, technical assistance, and training to sexual assault programs, outside partners, survivors, and the Coalition team. In her career, Elena has worked on a variety of initiatives to prevent sexual assault and support survivors’ rights. Her work began as a Peace Corps Volunteer in El Salvador, where she trained young people on sexual health and healthy relationships. Since then, she has worked on developing and promoting policies to support survivors, unique issues faced by immigrant survivors, Title IX compliance, and women and children’s rights issues. Elena holds a B.A. in International Studies from American University and a J.D. from the University of New Mexico School of Law.

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Jade Waskow, BA
Media and Systems Specialist

Jade Waskow (she/her) joined the NMCSAP in 2021 as their first media and systems specialist. She holds B.A.s in Sociology and Religious Studies from the University of New Mexico. Jade has been with the Rape Crisis Center of Central New Mexico as a volunteer advocate since 2019. She assists with education, prevention, and outreach through managing the Coalition’s social media, monthly newsletter, and graphic design projects. She also provides support for training preparation, data entry, and other activities.