
About the President
Mary Parr-Sanchez
is the ninety-eighth president of NEA-New Mexico. She took office on July 15, 2019.
Mary taught middle school history, civics and geography for 25 years in Las Cruces Public Schools and is a constant advocate for students, families and staff in Las Cruces and across the state. Mary was a longtime leader in NEA-Las Cruces where she championed local autonomy of school communities; she served as a building representative (AR) for 15 years which led to local and state leadership. Serving as vice-president of NEA-New Mexico for 6 years has been an honor, and she is humbled to serve as president.
Mary led the movement for Community Schools in Las Cruces, and is now working to support the statewide expansion of Community Schools, serving on the NM Coalition for Community Schools. She is also a passionate champion of fair and constructive teacher evaluation and serves on the PED’s teacher evaluation task force.
Mary believes that for public schools to survive and thrive, they need to be adaptive to parents and communities. “It is only through our union that we can harness our collective influence and power to protect public education and improve the lives of our fellow educators and the students we serve.”She believes deeply in the potential of New Mexico’s educators and students.
Originally from Albuquerque, Mary currently shares her time living between Las Cruces and Santa Fe with her husband Patrick. She has 4 children and 2 grandchildren.
Board of Directors
Denise Sheehan
NEA Director- Elect
Melanie Hallbeck
NEA Alternate Director- Elect
Tammie Yazzie
NW, Central Consolidated
Vacant
SW-CSEC & Las Cruces
Denise Dawson
SE Dist 2, Roswell
Cynthia Sandoval
NE/NC, Las Vegas West
Delphina Ponce
ESP-At-Large Dist 2, Roswell
Grace Mayer
NE/NC, Santa Fe
Henry Gonzales
Retired-At-Large
Rosalinda Carreon-Altamirano
Retired-At-Large
Jennifer Trujillo
Central, Bernalillo
Carolyn Serafin-Abeyta
Central, Belen
Bess Rusk
SE Dist 1, Carlsbad
Vacant
SW, Alamogordo
Mary Daniel-Montoya
SW-CSEC & Las Cruces