Thomas Romero
Los Alamos Historical Society News:
Thomas Romero, executive director of the Northern Rio Grande National Heritage Area, will present “Northern Rio Grande National Heritage Area: Sustaining Culture and Traditions” at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 13 at historic Fuller Lodge in Los Alamos.
Romero will discuss the work of the Heritage Area, which covers the area of Taos, Rio Arriba and Santa Fe counties. He will focus on the work of the organization over the last four years in creating sustaining partnerships with other cultural organizations. He will discuss the Heritage Area’s grants program and project efforts to support education, community development, tourism and economic development, and the preservation of Northern New Mexico’s cultural heritage.
As a sustaining organization, the National Heritage Area brings federal funding into the state, but it is through its collaborative partnerships that the Heritage Area intends to influence the preservation of culture and traditions.
Romero will discuss work with various partnerships, including Northern New Mexico College, the National Park Service, the State Historic Records Advisory Board, Santa Fe and Rio Arriba counties, the City of Espanola, the Old Spanish Trail Association, Mesa Prieta Petroglyphs, Espanola Valley Fiber Arts Center, and the Historias de Nuevo Mexico Collaborations.
Romero has been executive director of the National Heritage Area Organization since August of 2011. He headed his own management consulting firm for more than 30 years, working with government, tribal entities and businesses throughout the US and Latin America. He served as deputy secretary of several departments under the Richardson Administration, and as associate vice president for organizational and community development with Santa Fe Community College.
For the last 20 years, Romero has served on the board of El Museo Cultural in Santa Fe, and on boards of other nonprofit organizations, including Creative Santa Fe, the Haddock Foundation and the Rio Tesuque Land Alliance.
