James Jimenez has extensive leadership experience in the nonprofit sector and state and municipal government. As a professor of practice in the School of Public Administration, he works with students on their practicum requirements and teaches courses in government administration and nonprofit governance. He previously served as Executive Director of New Mexico Voices for Children, a nonpartisan statewide child advocacy organization.

As an adjunct faculty member at the University of New Mexico’s School of Public Administration, he taught courses on the administration of state government, public budgeting, and the role of the legislature in public administration. He previously taught in the New Mexico Highlands University Master of Social Work program.

In state government, Jimenez served as Chief of Staff to New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and as Cabinet Secretary of the New Mexico Department of Finance and Administration. At the state’s Legislative Finance Committee, he served as Economist and Supervisor of the Performance Audit Unit. In municipal government, Jimenez served two stints as City Manager for the City of Rio Rancho, New Mexico, where he had previously worked as the city’s Finance Director.

Jimenez has served on the boards of directors for local, statewide, and national nonprofit organizations.

He received a B.A. in Economics and a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of New Mexico.