Linda Candelaria-Dodd
CON ALMA News:
SANTA FE — Con Alma Health Foundation’s Board of Trustees announced today it has hired Linda Candelaria-Dodd as the foundation’s new executive director starting Jan. 3. Candelaria-Dodd has served as a Con Alma trustee member since 2021 and replaces Denise Herrera, PhD.
“We thank Denise for helping us refine our policies, and we’re excited to welcome Linda to the role of executive director,” Board President Nathan Padilla said. “We believe she’s the right person to guide our investments in nonprofits supporting people’s health and our work toward health equity for all New Mexicans.”
Candelaria-Dodd has served as resource development manager at Carlsbad Lifehouse, Inc., where she executed major fundraising and outreach efforts, including grant writing. Prior to that role, she managed all aspects of daily operations as executive director/CEO at United Way of Eddy County and served as program director of the Carlsbad Literacy Program. She has a bachelor’s degree in business administration and communication disorders from Eastern New Mexico University.
“Growing up in rural Northern New Mexico, I have witnessed the health disparities that plague rural communities and the adverse effects they have on leading a healthy prosperous life,” Candelaria-Dodd said. “I am eager to continue advocating and championing for the most vulnerable populations in our state.”
Candelaria-Dodd was raised in rural Los Brazos and has spent her life residing and working in small communities in New Mexico and Arizona, including the Navajo Reservation in northwestern New Mexico and the Mescalero Apache Reservation in Cibeque, Ariz. Throughout her journey, she has cultivated strong connections and implemented effective strategies that have furthered the missions of the organizations she has been involved with, including her role as a volunteer board member for the Ronald McDonald House Charities of NM and the Eddy County Health Council.
Candelaria-Dodd will help Con Alma invest the remaining $4 million MacKenzie Scott gift as well as its annual cycles of grant giving focused on improving health and working toward health equity in New Mexico.
