Governing Board Bylaws

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 Ms. McClendon earned her BS at the University of New Mexico and her Master of Arts in Educational Leadership at California State University Sacramento. She served schools in California and New Mexico in K-12 traditional settings, charter settings, and alternative school settings, including a facility for incarcerated young people. She has been an Assistant Principal at three high schools, a Principal at one high school, and a teacher at six schools. Her tenure in classroom education has included teaching arts-integrated language arts curriculum, reading and language intervention, and a variety of high school and middle school subjects. As an administrator, Ms. McClendon fulfilled many responsibilities: Faculty and Staff Evaluation, Staff Training, Disciplinary Management and Documentation, Parent Conflict Resolution, Building and Maintenance, Event Planning, Assessment and Accountability, Graduation Readiness Documentation and Tracking, Safety and Security, Hiring, AVID District Coordinator, Power School Management relative to Gradebook, GPA structure and maintenance, and Master Scheduling, and other district and site tasks as required. Through these multiple types of schools and responsibilities, she developed a wealth of tools for educational leadership. Ms. McClendon recently retired and has pursued her love and passion for art, creativity, and critical learning through her art business in Albuquerque. 

 Dr. Susan McConnell is an educator who has devoted her skills and interests in New Mexico schools in numerous venues and responsibilities. She is retiring as the Chief Administrator of North Valley Academy Charter School with all the administrative duties of a person responsible for a thriving charter school. Prior to that, Dr. McConnell served as an Assistant Principal in that same school with the tasks of student support, supervision, evaluation, Title One Coordinator, Administrative Liaison to Parent Teacher Organization, facilities management, and many other responsibilities as needed to serve a vibrant school. Dr. McConnell has a rich and diverse leadership background in area schools. She was Rio Rancho High School Director of Student Activities, a recreational therapist, owner and operator of a children's art and drama camp, and other eclectic community services to create a better opportunity for children, teens, and adults. Dr. McConnell received her Master of Arts degree in Education Administration as a Danforth Fellow in UNM's CEAIP program and her Doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Phoenix. She has received several recognitions, including New Mexico Charter School Administrator of the Year and New Mexico Advisor of the Year. 

Born and raised in Albuquerque, Oren Ran has been a practicing CPA in New Mexico, Colorado, Pennsylvania, and Alaska. With significant multi-state work and experience working in Big 4 and small firms alike, he has gained exposure to a variety of industries with clients of all sizes, focusing in the areas of investment management, rental real estate, and professional services, and healthcare industries. Oren also has a significant amount of experience working with high-net-worth family groups. His most recent tenure in public accounting includes working in the Private Wealth Group at Deloitte, and independent contracting work for Aprio.

Oren received his Bachelor’s degree from the University of New Mexico and is a licensed Certified Public Accountant in the State of New Mexico. In his free time, Oren enjoys weightlifting, skiing, reading, playing guitar, and traveling.

Dana graduated from NMHU with her master’s degree in Social Work and received her B.A. from UNM. She is originally a Norteña from Embudo, NM. She has 20 + years in education and originally started in School-Based Health Services.

Dana is currently the Director of Community Schools and strives to work with the MAA educational community to empower and strengthen opportunities, resources, and accessibility for the MAA community.

Dana values the individual experience and the cultural diversity each student brings and states: “the voice and educational process of a student drives me to work hard with an open mind and open heart.”

Dana’s expertise is working with the community and families to gain access to resources that can support them in their effort to reach success in education as well as their overall health and wellness.

Dana’s favorite moments are spending time with her family and she loves the outdoors, cooking, gardening, and working on personal health.

 Mr. Amer Child holds a BS in Technology and Training and is currently working as a Sr. Solutions Architect supporting customers on a global scale for RiskSense. RiskSense is a global cybersecurity company founded in May 2015. Amer has worked as an IT professional for over 20 years, starting as a web developer for Correa Enterprises, a web developer and trainer for BASIS International, and finally at RiskSense. His work in this field gives him a deep understanding and perspective of the need for, the use of, and the security needed relative to modern day technology. In 2017 he completed his bachelor’s degree in Technology and Training at the University of New Mexico. He cares about those in his community and beyond and used some of his time and resources to serve as a volunteer for the March of Dimes organization from 2013 to 2015.  

Corinne has served as a Finance and Operations Director, Business Manager and Chief Procurement Officer for New Mexico charter schools since 2014.  She stumbled upon a career in finances for charter schools after working in banking and real estate and now enjoys her work even more now, knowing it is benefiting children in the area she was born and raised.  As a Finance and Operations Director she oversees an entire department that includes finance, facilities, operations and enrollment staff- everything that supports and allows the teaching staff to focus on what they enjoy and do best- teaching and hopes to use these skills to contribute to the RioGAFA board.  She is an advocate for charter schools, seeing the positive difference the uniqueness of charter schools' curriculum can make on how children feel about education and the impact they can have on their lives and the community.