Our Team

Powerful Tools for Caregivers Class Leader

Cecilia Chávez Beltrán is a school-based Spanish-English interpreter with many years of experience working in the non-profit sector. She is a skilled and dedicated group facilitator, community organizer, and immigrant advocate. Cecilia has been told that she is very approachable and inclusive in her communication style. She is looking forward to sharing her extensive knowledge of community resources with family caregivers.

Powerful Tools for Caregivers Class Leader

Nell Burrus is a retired bilingual K-12 literacy and second language educator. She has worked as an adult ESL instructor and has volunteered with a wide variety of community organizations, including the New Mexico Immigrant Law Center and Encuentro, helping support the delivery of advocacy, educational and legal services. Her passion for supporting caregivers comes from personal experience. In 2018, she took over the coordination of her father's care, including being his primary caregiver for an extended period. This experience taught her about the joy and challenges of caring, advocating, and making decisions for a loved one and also about the importance of self-care when taking care of others.

Powerful Tools for Caregivers Class Leader

Cynthia Florence was born and raised in New Mexico. She received her bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Arizona and taught for four years at an alternative private school in Tucson. She then returned to NM, where for the next 26 years she worked for Albuquerque Public Schools as a kindergarten teacher and a reading teacher. During her teaching career she volunteered with the Albuquerque Teachers Federation as the union representative at her school, and briefly as a member of the board. After retiring from teaching in 2014, she joined the staff at The Grief Center in Albuquerque as Program Coordinator, where she had been volunteering as a co-facilitator in a children's grief group. Since retiring, she volunteers at The Grief Center with special events and new volunteer training. Her passion for helping family caregivers stems from her own experience caring for her grandmother and more recently for her mother.

Caregiver Support Group Leader

Maggie Garner has a Master of Education in Counseling with a specialization in Geriatric Counseling. In her first job out of graduate school, she managed a grant from Interfaith Volunteer Caregivers of America at The Shepherd’s Center of Greensboro, NC. Maggie coordinated, trained, and supported Interfaith Volunteers in their communities. Maggie was Counselor to the 250 residents of a Continuing Care Retirement Community in Greensboro including Independent Living residents as well as residents in Assisted Living care and Nursing care. There she facilitated support groups for caregivers, bereaved individuals and groups helping residents cope with many of the transitions that come with aging and dying. Following retirement Maggie moved with her husband to New Mexico in 2006. Living in New Mexico allows Maggie to travel, experience new cultures and play tennis year-round. Her other passions include reading, learning, hiking, and gardening.

Powerful Tools for Caregivers Class Leader

Susan Lieberman Minkus is originally from the Chicago area. She has called New Mexico home for 20 years. She holds a bachelor’s degree in social work from Northeastern Illinois University. She worked for Council for Jewish Elderly and Jewish Family Services, where she advocated for and supported seniors and Holocaust survivors in the community. She is a mom, a music lover, and a bird watcher. She loves being with her family, friends, and her dog Molly.