Job Description
Executive Director
New Mexico CASA Association
Full-Time, Exempt • Remote / Statewide • Reports to the Board of Directors
Compensation commensurate with experience; anticipated range $70,000–$90,000
The Opportunity
New Mexico’s children in foster care deserve a skilled, committed adult in their corner. CASA volunteers — trained community members appointed by courts — provide exactly that: sustained, fact-based advocacy that cuts through the noise of an overburdened child welfare system. The New Mexico CASA Association exists to make that advocacy available to every child who needs it, across every corner of this state.
This is an early moment for NM CASA — and an interesting one. The organization was purpose-built in 2018 by the New Mexico local CASA programs to serve as the statewide network steward for New Mexico’s thirteen judicial districts, and after seven years of foundational work, the pieces for something larger are being assembled.
New Mexico’s child welfare system faces well-documented challenges, and the case for expanding CASA’s reach has never been stronger. None of this is finished. The next Executive Director will help finish it — and in doing so, will have shaped what NM CASA becomes. That is a different proposition than stepping into a mature organization, and it will appeal to a different kind of person.
The work will take you across New Mexico. From the high desert communities of San Miguel and Mora Counties to the Mesilla Valley, from the Four Corners region to the eastern plains, New Mexico’s cultural and geographic diversity is not a complication — it is the texture of the job. Local CASA programs are community organizations, rooted in their places and their relationships with local courts. The ED must show up credibly in all of them. Fluency with New Mexico — its people, its politics, its judicial culture, its many distinct communities — matters in ways that cannot be fully taught.
Santa Fe is where the legislature meets and where the Administrative Office of the Courts is headquartered. Albuquerque is home to the largest concentration of children in foster care in the state. Courthouses and program offices are everywhere else. There is no single base that makes sense for this role. The right person will not only accept that — they will find it appealing.
About NM CASA
The New Mexico CASA Association is the statewide organization for the National CASA/GAL network in New Mexico, incorporated in 2018. It holds the statewide contract with the Administrative Office of the Courts for program quality assurance, training, technical assistance, and data reporting — and beyond that contract, it is the organizational home and advocate for thirteen local CASA programs operating across eleven of New Mexico’s thirteen judicial districts.
NM CASA is a small, early-stage organization: two staff, a working board drawn from across the state, and an annual budget at its current contracted level of approximately $238,000. It is not a bureaucracy. The ED will do real work, not manage people who do it — and will build the organizational infrastructure that eventually allows greater delegation. That arc, from founder-stage to mature statewide organization, is part of what makes this role interesting.
The Role
The Executive Director is NM CASA’s primary leader, external voice, and chief relationship holder. The AOC contract defines a significant portion of current workload — quality assurance, training systems, data reporting, technical assistance to local programs — but it does not define the role. The ED’s job is to build NM CASA into the effective statewide organization that New Mexico’s children need. The AOC contract is the platform from which that work begins, not its ceiling.
Legislative and Funding Strategy
- Lead NM CASA’s multi-year legislative funding strategy, including advancing the recurring appropriation needed to fund CASA advocacy at meaningful scale across the state.
- Maintain year-round relationships with key legislators, Legislative Finance Committee staff, and allied child welfare advocates.
- Represent NM CASA’s interests in state budget processes and champion funding formula design that rewards programs for serving children.
- Identify and pursue diversified revenue — federal grants, foundation support, individual giving — to reduce dependence on a single appropriation.
Statewide Partnerships and Presence
• Serve as NM CASA’s primary relationship with the Administrative Office of the Courts, including managing the statewide contract and positioning NM CASA as a trusted partner in AOC’s child welfare work.
• Build and sustain working relationships with CYFD, the Office of Family Representation and Advocacy, the Children’s Court Improvement Commission, and other statewide child welfare stakeholders.
• Represent NM CASA in coalitions, workgroups, and interagency initiatives.
• Maintain NM CASA’s membership and relationship with the National CASA/GAL Association.
Local Program Support and Quality Assurance
• Serve as the primary support resource for thirteen local CASA programs, with a posture that leads with partnership and capacity-building rather than compliance enforcement.
• Conduct quality assurance assessments — including onsite visits — and communicate findings in ways that promote learning and trust.
• Provide direct technical assistance to programs navigating leadership transitions, governance challenges, or operational difficulties.
• Monitor statewide data to identify programs that need additional support, and develop responsive strategies in coordination with the AOC.
Training and Volunteer Development
• Oversee statewide training systems for CASA volunteers, program staff, and board members, including pre-service curriculum, in-service offerings, and an accessible learning management system.
• Ensure training reflects New Mexico’s cultural diversity and the specific contexts of New Mexico’s courts and communities.
Organizational Leadership and Board Relations
• Work closely with the Board of Directors on governance, strategic planning, and organizational development.
• Manage NM CASA’s financial operations in partnership with the Board Treasurer, including budget development, contract compliance, invoicing, and financial reporting.
• Hire, supervise, and develop staff as the organization grows.
• Oversee communications, public presence, and statewide branding consistent with National CASA/GAL standards.
What We’re Looking For
We are not looking for someone who has done exactly this job before. We are looking for someone who has the leadership instincts, the relational range, and the genuine interest in New Mexico’s children to grow into it and grow NM CASA around them.
The strongest candidates will bring:
• Demonstrated senior leadership in a mission-driven organization — nonprofit, government, or related — with real accountability for outcomes, not just execution of someone else’s plan.
• Understanding of the Child Welfare system – nationally as well as statewide.
• Experience navigating state-level systems: legislatures, courts, agencies, or comparable environments where relationships and credibility matter as much as technical knowledge.
• Financial management competence — not a finance professional, but someone who understands a budget, reads financial statements, and takes stewardship seriously.
• Comfort with ambiguity and early-stage organizational life. NM CASA is building systems, not running them. The ED will need to make decisions with incomplete information and build the infrastructure that makes better decisions possible over time.
• Cultural fluency in New Mexico. The state’s diversity — tribal nations, Hispanic land grant communities, border communities, rural communities of every kind — shapes child welfare and shapes CASA. Candidates who already understand this landscape, or who have the humility and curiosity to learn it quickly, will be more effective.
• A genuine commitment to children. This is not a stepping-stone role. The work matters, and the right person will know that.
Experience in CASA, or court systems is valuable but not required. Knowledge of New Mexico’s judicial and legislative landscape is a meaningful advantage.
Work Environment
This is a remote position with substantial statewide travel. There is no required home base — but candidates should expect frequent trips to Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and local program sites across the state, including some evenings and weekends. A valid New Mexico driver’s license and reliable transportation are required. All work is subject to strict confidentiality standards consistent with the sensitive nature of child welfare.
To Apply
Please submit a resume and a cover letter that tells us why this role, why NM CASA, and why now. The cover letter matters — we are as interested in how you think about this work as in your credentials.
Applications should be sent to https://www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=f9f6f1abaf81f263&.
NM CASA is an equal opportunity employer committed to building a team that reflects the diversity of the communities we serve.