Emerge New Mexico, nonprofit political organization that trains Democratic women to run for elected offices ranging from school board positions to seats on the U.S. House of Representatives, has hired Sondra Roeuny as its new executive director.
Roeuny previously worked as the New Mexico public affairs director for Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains. She is the daughter of parents who survived the brutal reign of the Khmer Rouge and its genocide in Cambodia.
“As a woman of color from a refugee diaspora experience, I know first-hand the benefits of having a more inclusive democracy, Roeuncy said in a news release issued Monday. “Having more women from the New American Majority — Black, Brown and Indigenous women and women of color, as well as LGBTQ+, young, and unmarried women — in office at all levels of government leads to a more just society in which all people can thrive. And that’s what every New Mexican deserves.”
Emerge New Mexico is one of 27 state affiliates of the national Emerge organization, founded in 2005. According to the news release, over 100 Emerge New Mexico alums now hold public office.