Justin Kii Huenemann would have most popular taking a “listen-and-learn” method to his new place as president and CEO of the nonprofit New Mexico Basis in mid-Could, however he did not have that luxurious.
“The group has not had regular, strong management for least a yr,” he stated, including a number of workers members have been carrying a heavy load. That prompted him to take an energetic position in operating the inspiration practically from the day he walked via the door.
“I’m undoubtedly nonetheless ingesting from the firehose, attempting to get every part discovered,” Huenemann stated.
Three weeks later, Huenemann stated he looks like he has lastly been in a position to come up for air. However it took some doing — bringing aboard consultants and a brand new finance director who might present him with an correct image of the inspiration’s funds.
“Quite a lot of issues wanted to be addressed,” he stated.
‘Just a little blip’
It was not his intention to color a darkish image of circumstances on the basis, Huenemann stated. Quite the opposite, he famous, the 42-year-old establishment has served the state effectively for a very long time and is prone to proceed doing so.
“This can be a little blip on its lifespan,” he stated. “However it’s obtained a powerful foundational base, an excellent board and loads of long-term workers members.”
The New Mexico Basis is the one statewide neighborhood basis in New Mexico, which makes it an vital group, Huenemann stated — and one which faces a singular set of challenges and alternatives.
“We’re in all probability the most important supervisor within the state of fiscal sponsorships,” he stated. “Which means we regularly tackle the burden of managing a grant on behalf of a company, assuring that information are correct and well timed.”
One of many causes he believes he was chosen for the job, Huenemann stated, is he has obtained loads of expertise as a “turnaround man,” a pacesetter who can parachute into a comparatively chaotic state of affairs and shortly present a way of calm and understanding.
His message in these conditions is all the time the identical, he stated: “The sky’s not falling.”
The power to inject a extra relaxed perspective right into a tense state of affairs is one thing Huenemann stated he picked up throughout his childhood rising up close to Tsaile, Ariz., as a member of the Navajo Nation.
“My entrance yard was Canyon de Chelly [National Monument], and my yard was the Chuska Mountains,” he stated, explaining the setting instilled in him a serenity he has carried with him into maturity.
“I didn’t know the richness of that space till I left it,” Huenemann stated. “However that’s part of my childhood I maintain pricey. It made me who I’m. I’ve a profound respect for the land.”
Range of expertise
Huenemann beforehand served because the president and CEO of the First Individuals’s Fund and the Native American Group Growth Institute. His résumé additionally contains work in greater schooling, structure, native authorities and entrepreneurship.
Rosemary Romero, the New Mexico Basis board president, stated Huenemann’s broad expertise ought to assist the group proceed to construct statewide partnerships to handle the wants of New Mexicans.
“We’re thrilled to have somebody on the helm together with his organizational and outreach abilities to assist us develop and attain our full potential all through the state and nationally,” she stated in a information launch asserting his hiring.
Huenemann stated he developed his administration model over the course of a few years.
“I prefer to say I come from a servant-leadership mannequin,” he stated. “However I didn’t simply come to that — it took me a number of years. My job is to facilitate and assist a company and staff to handle development via collaboration and embracing new concepts.”
Describing himself as an energetic listener, Huenemann stated, “I’ve robust concepts, however they’re simply moved if I hear a strong, robust concept. I’m all the time asking, ‘What do you suppose?’ ”
Regardless of the pressing want he confronted in filling the inspiration’s management void, Huenemann stated he made the time to sit down down with each workers member for at the very least an hour through the early days of his tenure.
“I placed on two massive ears,” he stated.
Huenemann stated he prides himself on by no means asking a workers member to do greater than he can be prepared to do himself.
As for a way the New Mexico Basis interacts with its companions throughout the state, Huenemann stated crucial factor to recollect is what the group was created to do.
“We’re a neighborhood basis, not a non-public basis, so we don’t get to dictate to our companions,” he stated. “We now have to recollect, ‘Who’s our main buyer? Who’re we right here to serve?’ Our most vital job is just not creating boundaries.”
By nature, Huenemann stated, neighborhood foundations are usually territorial, as their mission largely includes convincing donors to make use of their group to financially help the causes they favor.
“I don’t suppose the inspiration has absolutely embraced our statewide alternatives,” he stated. “We’re just a little bit heavy on the north aspect, so there’s some alternative there. … We’ve obtained a protracted approach to go to totally embrace a statewide presence.”
Huenemann additionally described neighborhood foundations as “a privileged setting inside a privileged sector,” noting the necessity to stay humble.
“You must work two occasions as laborious to not let that get to your head,” he stated. “You must hold within the forefront of your thoughts your position is to be of service to the individuals of New Mexico.”