Think New Mexico is a results-oriented think tank whose mission is to improve the lives of all New Mexicans, especially those who lack a strong voice in the political process. We fulfill this mission by educating the public, the media, and policymakers about some of the most serious challenges facing New Mexico and by developing and advocating for enduring, effective, evidence-based solutions. Our approach is to perform and publish sound, nonpartisan, independent research. Unlike many think tanks, Think New Mexico does not subscribe to any particular ideology. Instead, because New Mexico is at or near the bottom of so many national rankings, our focus is on promoting workable solutions that will lift all New Mexicans up.

Think New Mexico was founded with the idea that a nonpartisan, results-oriented think tank could help to advance New Mexico in some of the national rankings where we currently place at or near the bottom. Our vision is that every New Mexican will have the opportunity to thrive, and we use public policy reform to advance that vision.

Source: Nonprofit submitted responses

Goal One: Research, develop, and advocate for public policy reforms that improve the lives of all New Mexicans, especially those who lack a strong voice in the political process.

Goal Type: This goal reflects our commitment to further our advocacy work for our organization and or cause area.

Goal Two: Develop New Mexico’s future leaders with our paid Leadership Internship program, which trains students in how to develop and enact sound public policy and networks them with New Mexico leaders.

Goal Type: Focus on core programs to achieve mission and scale back on programs not seen as core.

Goal Three: Help New Mexico students and families engage with the policymaking process in order to improve the quality of public education, lifting up student proficiency and long-term student outcomes.

Goal Type: New program(s) based on observed changes in needs among our constituencies/communities served.

Describe an investment in leadership

Think New Mexico actively invests in the leadership of its staff by mentoring them and providing opportunities for staff members to engage in public speaking, presentations to policymakers, public communications, policy research and analysis, and other relevant areas. Staff members beyond the Executive Director serve as the face of the organization in media interviews and public presentations. Think New Mexico also provides time and funding for staff members to complete professional development trainings. For example, Think New Mexico funded both our Associate Director and Field Director to participate in the Emerging Social Sector Leaders Program, organized by the Santa Fe Community Foundation. This intensive program focuses on networking with peers in other nonprofits and developing future nonprofit Executive Directors.

This organization mobilizes for mission in the following ways:

• Strategic Partnerships

• Networks of Collective Impact Efforts

• Thought Leadership

• Raising Awareness

• Community Building

• Policy Advocacy

What are this organization’s external mobilizaton efforts?

As the only organization of its kind in the state, Think New Mexico fills a critical need by developing and advocating for essential policy reforms that lack an effective champion, such as repealing the state’s regressive food tax. With each of our initiatives, Think New Mexico’s staff and board begin by developing innovative solutions based on our own thorough, independent, nonpartisan research. Next, we educate the public, media and policymakers about these solutions. We write, publish, and distribute policy reports describing our solutions to opinion leaders and members of the public across the state, and we leverage earned media to spread our ideas as far as possible. In conjunction with this public education effort, we build a broad-based coalition of supporters who join with us in advocating for our proposed reforms. We also draft legislation to implement our proposals, recruit bipartisan sponsors, and work with policymakers to turn our vision into a reality.

When the pandemic hit, Think New Mexico was fortunate that much of our work could be conducted remotely. From March 2020 through April 2021, Think New Mexico’s staff worked primarily from their homes, coordinating our efforts via zoom, email, phone, and text. This included hiring and supervising six Leadership Interns, who also had to work remotely during 2020. The constraints of the pandemic required our staff to be creative and put in extra effort. For example, we organized zoom sessions for our interns to meet and talk with state leaders including legislators, a former state secretary of Education, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, and Lt. Governor Howie Morales. Similarly, we organized many zoom sessions to build coalitions in support of our 2020-2021 policy proposals. The most challenging part of the past year was that the 2021 New Mexico legislative session was conducted entirely virtually, which made it significantly harder to coordinate testimony from coalition members and other allies, advocate with legislators, and engage in our usual grassroots outreach and education. Thanks to the extraordinary efforts of Think New Mexico’s staff, we were able to overcome those obstacles and win passage of several policy reforms, including making the state’s infrastructure funding process transparent and ending the taxation of delivered groceries.