Greg Saunders is Chief Operating Officer for CHESS. He brings over 20 years of senior leadership experience in operations, information technology, and project management to CHESS. In this role, he oversees CHESS projects in a collaborative, high-performing work environment and forges partnerships with leaders and teams at member colleges. He is the Senior Program Manager over implementations and directs and manages all program-related activities, ensuring alignment of processes to the CHESS vision among the members. In addition, he provides operational planning and establishes procedures to help grow the CHESS nonprofit organization.

Prior to CHESS, Greg acted as an independent advisor for various clients interested in software implementation, programs, policies, and procurement in the government sector. He also serves as a part-time instructor at Central New Mexico Community College teaching college-level courses in the business and computer fields.

Greg was the Judiciary Chief Information Officer for the New Mexico Supreme Court through the Administrative Offices of the Courts. He managed a statewide technical program and was directly involved with strategic policy.

Previously, Greg served as Chief Information Officer for the New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department, overseeing four major programs including tax revenue collection, oil and gas royalties, motor vehicle department, and property taxes. He was also Chief Information Officer and Deputy Executive Director of the New Mexico Gaming Control Board. He was instrumental in setting up the IT infrastructure, creating new policy and rules, implementing and electronic monitoring system for slot machines, creating a licensing process, and assisting licensees with setup, operations, and compliance.

Greg obtained both his Master of Arts in Organizational Management and his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix.

Mindy Watson is the Strategic Change officer for the Collaborative for Higher Education Shared Services, Inc. (CHESS). As the SCO, she provides strategy and change leadership to create a people-centric approach in support of the CHESS Mission, Vision, and Values.

Prior to joining CHESS, Mindy served as the Director of Assessment, Academic Program Review, and Special Projects at Santa Fe Community College in Santa Fe, NM. In that role, she oversaw assessment and academic program review for the College as well as assisting with HLC accreditation duties, serving as interim Grants Director, and teaching as an adjunct instructor, among other duties. Also, during her time at SFCC, Mindy served as the Change Management Workstream Lead for the CHESS Workday Wave 1 Enterprise Resource Planning Project implementation.

Previously, Mindy served as the Executive Director of Planning and Sponsored Projects at Clovis Community College, in Clovis, NM where she oversaw the office of Institutional Research, developed and launched integrated institutional planning, provided compliance and oversight of all federal grants, and developed state and federal grant proposals.

Mindy holds an Ed.D. in Higher Education Administration, Community College concentration from Texas Tech University; a master’s in Audiology from the University of Iowa, and a bachelor’s degree in Communication Disorders from West Texas A&M University.

Adrienne Griego has been a higher education payroll professional for more than 15 years. As the CHESS Payroll Director, she will oversee the functions and alignment of processes for the Payroll Department and member colleges. In addition, she will lead the colleges in their payroll implementation and deployment of the Workday ERP.

Prior to CHESS, Adrienne served as the Payroll Director at CNM. In this role, she provided leadership and direction for all aspects of payroll processing, ensuring compliance of college policies; federal, state, and local regulations; and Collective Bargaining Agreements. She oversaw the development of internal quality assurance procedures and process improvements.

Before joining CNM, Adrienne held payroll and accounting positions at the University of New Mexico. She worked in public accounting as an auditor, focusing on governmental, higher education, and nonprofit entities.

Adrienne earned an MBA from Grand Canyon University and a BBA with a concentration in Accounting from The University of New Mexico. She is a Certified Payroll Professional and obtained a Global Payroll Management Certification.

Trish Heaton is the Talent Training & Development Officer for CHESS. She brings over 16 years in higher education, and over 12 years focused on training, learning, and development. As Training Officer, Trish will manage training for the Workday Enterprise Resource Planning Implementation and Student Information System. She also will develop programs to support functions outside of these projects. Before joining CHESS, Trish was the Director of Learning and Development at CNM, the Co-Coordinator for the Workday Training Team, and a member of the Human Resources Workstream and Change Management Team. Previously, she has held roles in human resources, organizational development and training at UNM.

Prior to her work in higher education, Trish spent 16 years in the hospitality sector working for Marriott International including roles in all areas of hotel management. During her career, she has successfully led implementation of system and training rollouts, establishing new departments, enterprise-wide training implementations, and launching an Employee Learning Management System.

She has an associate degree from CNM and a Bachelor of Business Management from UNM.

Michael Chavez-Kerr has been in the higher education landscape for 20 years. As the Workday Support Manager, he will oversee the functions and administration of support of the Workday platform in partnership with CHESS member colleges.

Prior to CHESS, Michael served as the Director of the Finance and Operations Business Analyst Team at CNM. In this role, he provided leadership and direction for all aspects of support for CNM’s Finance and Operations and Human Resources divisions. This included support of the existing Enterprise Resource Planning system, third-party applications, and various automations and workflows.

Before joining CNM, Michael held positions at University of New Mexico and University of Colorado. He also has worked in the private sector for Verizon in the technical and sales areas.

Michael earned an associate degree from New Mexico State University, a bachelor’s degree from the University of New Mexico, and will complete a master’s degree from Webster University in 2023.

Mike Russell brings over 20 years of leadership experience in IT Service Management in healthcare, food and beverage, technology, and higher education. At CHESS, he is responsible for implementing and managing the help desk, partnering with the member colleges to provide an effective and efficient service management ecosystem.

Previously, Mike was a consultant with CampusWorks fulfilling senior management and IT service management roles for higher education clients.

Mike also served as the Senior Help Desk Manger at Jack in the Box Restaurants, supporting technical operations for over 2,500 restaurants nationwide and implemented service desks in Manila, Philippines and Queretaro, Mexico.

Prior to Jack in the Box, he spent 25 years in healthcare IT in technical and managerial roles.

Karen is a highly skilled professional with a strong academic background and a passion for higher education. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and Mass Media, which she obtained from Douglass College at Rutgers University. With over eight years of experience in the field of higher education, Karen has demonstrated her commitment to the industry by serving in various roles, contributing to the success of academic institutions, and fostering a dynamic and inclusive learning environment. Her dedication to promoting educational excellence is evident through her work in Career Technical Education marketing and outreach, student service excellence, and academic support positions. Before working in higher education, Karen owned and operated a successful fundraising business to support school and non-profit organizational success for eight years. 

Beyond her professional pursuits, Karen finds solace and joy in outdoor activities, particularly at the beach, bike riding, and nature photography. These hobbies not only serve as a source of relaxation but also reflect her adventurous spirit and love for nature. Karen is a well-rounded individual who brings her diverse skills and interests to the table, making her a valuable asset in the higher education landscape. 

Dr. Dani Day has served as a community college vice president for the last 20 years. In that capacity, she has been responsible for faculty and support personnel, academic policy, curriculum design and development, learning assessment, student success programming, libraries and learning resources, distance learning, P-12 partnerships, university partnerships, continuing and non-credit education, and faculty development. In addition to her academic affairs responsibilities, she has had oversight of Board policy management, advising, student academic planning, payroll administration, course scheduling and facility use, institutional research, and grants. Dr. Day served five years as the Chief IT Officer for one institution, six years as a legislative liaison and ten years as the liaison to the state higher education coordinating board. Dr. Day also spent 15 years as an accreditation liaison and reaffirmation consultant at large and small schools across the south and southwest, shepherding successful reaffirmations and producing over fifty successful substantive change prospectuses, including level changes and distance learning approvals.

Over the course of her career, Dr. Day has served as a Board member, officer and president or chair of Texas Community College Instructional Administrators, Texas Women in Higher Education, the National Association of Instructional Administrators, Roby Independent School District and the Starlink and Virtual College of Texas Advisory boards. She has also served on the Texas Undergraduate Educational Advisory Council, and the Texas Association of Community Colleges’ Dual Credit Task Force. Prior to accepting full-time administrative roles, Dr. Day taught freshman composition and literature classes in community colleges, public and private universities and on high school campuses for dual credit. She has been actively involved in coaching and judging for Texas UIL speaking competitions, taking her debate team to state five years in a row and coaching a state champion in prose interpretation.

Dr. Day has a B.A. in Economics from Texas Christian University, an M.A. in English from University of Texas at Arlington, and an Ed. D. in Higher Education Administration from Northeastern University in Boston. Prior to entering the field of education, she worked as an account manager for Xerox Corporation and as a freelance writer for corporate clients. She has three children and five grandchildren with whom she plays Magic the Gathering.

Marcos Garcia is the Sr. Program Manager for CHESS. He brings over 31 years of leadership experience, information technology, and project management to CHESS. In this role, he oversees project implementations, directs, and manages all program-related activities, ensuring alignment of processes to the CHESS vision among the members.

Marcos obtained his Master of Science in Business Management from St. Louis University and his Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the College of Santa Fe and Bachelor of Arts in Management from the New Mexico Highlands University. Marcos enjoys Jeep explorations in the mountains, fishing, gardening and spending time with his wife and children.

April Chavez is the Financial Aid Director for the CHESS Shared Services Financial Aid Office. She brings over 25 years of experience in Higher Education, specifically in Financial Aid. In this role, she will oversee all functions of a new CHESS shared services Financial Aid Department for the member institutions.

Before joining CHESS, she served as the Financial Aid Director at Clovis Community College, where she provided strategic leadership and oversight for all aspects of the institution’s financial aid operations. Her role included ensuring compliance with federal and state regulations while delivering efficient and effective financial aid services to support student success.

April earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Northern Iowa and her master’s degree from New Mexico State University.

Barb Griego brings 14 years of experience in higher education and 12 years specifically in institutional research to her role at CHESS as the Data Reporting and Analysis Director. In this role, she will focus on delivering transformational support to meet data and reporting goals and initiatives in partnership with CHESS member colleges.

Before joining CHESS, Barb served as the Director of Institutional Research at Santa Fe Community College.  In this role, she directed the IR functions of SFCC, providing a leadership role in maintaining a responsive office, overseeing workflows, managing and training staff, and ensuring the completion of projects.  Barb also earned an associate degree from SFCC in Computer Science in 2012.

Prior to her work in higher education, Barb served as a database administrator for a legal services company in Texas.