Think New Mexico

The ultimate goal of Think New Mexico's work is to win passage of significant public policy reforms that improve the lives of all New Mexicans. Our work is particularly focused on serving constituencies who do not have a strong voice in the political process.

Think New Mexico was founded with the idea that state-level public policy advocacy work has the potential to create lasting and sustainable change. We combine the traditional research think tank model with focused advocacy work. So rather than simply issuing white papers, Think New Mexico's staff drafts legislation, recruits legislative sponsors, builds coalitions, garners earned media, and advocates with policymakers on behalf of our proposed solutions.

Each year, Think New Mexico works to develop and implement a public policy solution to a specific serious problem facing the state. These problems have ranged from the need to make food more affordable for New Mexico's families to the need to keep some water in the rivers that sustain New Mexico's communities. We consider an effort to be successful when our proposed policy reform has been enacted and implemented and is helping to address the problem it was designed to solve.

In addition to being a think tank with a solid track record of producing results, Think New Mexico also strives to be a leadership development organization that retains a new generation of potential leaders in New Mexico and teaches them how to develop and enact sound public policy. Through Think New Mexico's Leadership Internship program, we provide unique training to college and graduate students from New Mexico who are interested in public policy and dedicated to making a difference here in their home state. By helping our Leadership Interns build networks and experience in the world of New Mexico policy, we encourage them to use their talents to benefit the state after they finish their studies. This addresses one of the root causes holding New Mexico back: too many of our best and brightest young people leave the state because they feel that there are too few opportunities for them here.

Think New Mexico is the only organization of its kind in the state. It is unique in two ways: first, by combining independent public policy research with grassroots advocacy, and second, by draining out the politics and taking a truly nonpartisan approach to public policy reform.

Think New Mexico's strategy for accomplishing our long-term goals begins with our bipartisan board selecting a problem for the organization to focus on. The problem must be large enough that solving it will make a positive difference in the lives of most or all New Mexicans, yet small and discrete enough that it is politically achievable. Finally, the problem must be urgent and ripe for reform, and it must be amenable to being addressed through public policy.

Once an issue is selected, Think New Mexico's staff develops a proposed policy solution based on our own thorough, independent, nonpartisan research. This solution is refined by the board and written up in a policy report that is designed to educate the public, media, and policymakers about the advantages of those solutions. That report is distributed to approximately 12,000 opinion leaders across New Mexico, and Think New Mexico uses both earned media and social media campaigns to get the message out about its policy solutions.

Next, Think New Mexico organizes a diverse, broad-based coalition of supporters to help us make the case for reform to the legislature and governor. For example, the coalition we organized in support of our smaller schools initiative included national education reform organizations like the Coalition of Essential Schools and the Rural School and Community Trust, social justice and religious organizations (like ENLACE – Engaging Latino Communities for Education and the New Mexico Conference of Catholic Bishops), teachers unions, public health groups, and business groups.

Finally, we draft legislation to implement our proposed solution, recruit bipartisan sponsors to carry it in the legislature, and work closely with legislators and the governor to shepherd our bill through the legislative process. Once legislation implementing our solution has been enacted into law, Think New Mexico monitors the implementation to determine whether it is effectively addressing the problem, and engages in follow-up activities whenever necessary.

Think New Mexico's policy reform proposals are very ambitious undertakings. On average, only one out of every seven bills introduced actually passes the New Mexico legislature, and the odds are much steeper for bills that make significant changes to the status quo. Although we strive to achieve policy change as rapidly and efficiently as possible, we also take a long-term view. In some cases, achieving the results we desire requires taking several years and applying a variety of different approaches. Think New Mexico is committed to continuing our efforts until we reach our goals, as our track record of success reflects.

A key reason for our success is that, unlike most think tanks, Think New Mexico is led by a truly nonpartisan board, which serves as the brain trust of this think tank. Our board is composed of prominent Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, statesmen and stateswomen who have no agenda other than to see New Mexico succeed.

Think New Mexico's founding board Chair was the late Stewart Udall, Secretary of the Interior under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson. Current members include former New Mexico Governor Garrey Carruthers (a Republican); former New Mexico Attorney General Paul Bardacke (a Democrat); Roberta Cooper Ramo, the first woman elected President of the American Bar Association and the American Law Institute; Clara Apodaca, President and CEO of the National Hispanic Cultural Center Foundation; Ed Lujan, former Chairman of the New Mexico Economic Development Commission; Jackie Baca, President of Bueno Foods; Liddie Martinez, former board chair of the Los Alamos National Laboratory Foundation; Notah Begay III, Founder of the NB3 Foundation; and LaDonna Harris, Founder and President of Americans for Indian Opportunity.

In addition to our board, Think New Mexico's core assets include its small but dedicated staff, led by Fred Nathan, Founder and Executive Director, and Kristina Fisher, Associate Director. Fred previously served as Special Counsel to Attorney General Tom Udall, where he was the architect of several successful legislative initiatives and oversaw New Mexico's $1.25 billion lawsuit against the tobacco industry. Kristina graduated first in her class from the University of New Mexico School of Law and is a recipient of the Morris K. and Stewart L. Udall Award for Excellence in Environmental Studies and the Harry S. Truman Fellowship for Leadership and Public Service.

The work of Think New Mexico's board and staff is supported by social investments from over 1,000 individuals, businesses, and local and regional foundations. Think New Mexico calls its supporters “social investors" because we believe that nonprofits should be evaluated based on the social return they produce from the grants (i.e., social investments) they receive each year. For example, since Think New Mexico's income in 1999 was $109,499, the $135 million appropriated annually to provide full-day kindergarten to over 26,000 children means that our investors continue to receive social dividends of approximately $1,230 for each dollar invested in Think New Mexico's full-day kindergarten project.

Finally, as described above, collaborative efforts with a diverse range of organizations have been crucial to Think New Mexico's success, as partnerships with other organizations have greatly increased the grassroots support and political power of each of our policy reform initiatives.

Since its founding, Think New Mexico's initiatives have resulted in the enactment of numerous landmark laws and three constitutional amendments making full-day kindergarten accessible to every child in New Mexico; repealing the state's regressive tax on groceries; creating a Strategic Water Reserve to protect and restore New Mexico's rivers; establishing New Mexico's first state-supported Individual Development Accounts, matched savings accounts where low-income families can save for homeownership, college tuition or starting a micro-enterprise; redirecting millions of dollars a year out of the state lottery's excessive operating costs and into full-tuition college scholarships; reforming title insurance to lower closing costs for homebuyers and homeowners who refinance their mortgages; streamlining and professionalizing the state's troubled Public Regulation Commission, which touches the lives of every New Mexican who pays a utility or insurance bill; creating a one-stop online portal to make New Mexico friendlier for start-ups and small businesses; and establishing a user-friendly health care transparency website where New Mexicans will be able to find the cost and quality of common medical procedures at any of the state's hospitals.

As Think New Mexico embarks upon new policy initiatives, we make use of techniques that were successful in prior projects and avoid those that proved to be unsuccessful. Because we use a similar strategy with all of our projects, the lessons we learn in one project immediately inform the projects that follow. It is our hope that with every initiative we undertake, Think New Mexico will refine its techniques so that we become more efficient at achieving positive results for the people of New Mexico.

With our Leadership Internship program, the primary outcome we desire to achieve is to mentor some of New Mexico's most talented students and give them the skills and tools they need to become leaders in their communities.

Alumni of our Leadership Internship program are already making positive impacts on New Mexico (and the world). Of the students we have worked with since 2008, three have earned Truman Scholarships, three have received Fulbright Fellowships, and one has received a Marshall Scholarship. One former intern produced a widely acclaimed documentary on preventing child abuse and neglect in New Mexico, and two went on to work for Senator Udall’s Las Cruces district office. Five of our former interns have worked as budget and policy analysts with the Legislative Finance Committee, and one was elected to the New Mexico state Senate.