Santa Fe, N.M. – New Mexico MainStreet (NMMS) Director Daniel Gutierrez was elected to Main Street America’s Leadership Council on Dec. 10, 2020. The Council consists of eight elected Coordinating Program members and one Main Street Design professional who each serve three-year terms; the Council serves as a liaison between Main Street America’s Coordinating Programs and the National Main Street Center (NMSC). Council members provide insight, advice, and guidance regarding the Main Street program and the overall Main Street movement.
“My warmest congratulations to Daniel Gutierrez for his election to the National Main Street Leadership Council,” Economic Development Secretary Alicia J. Keyes said. “I know his expertise and dedication will support Main Street America’s continued success while promoting New Mexico’s MainStreet districts.”
Gutierrez joined New Mexico MainStreet in 2014 and served as Assistant and then Co-Director before he was appointed as Director in 2019. Daniel has extensive grant writing, research, and community economic development experience in implementing comprehensive community-based planning, asset-based economic development strategies, and permanent affordable housing.
“I’m honored to serve on Main Street America’s Leadership Council where I can be an advocate for all 44 national Coordinating programs as well as New Mexico’s 31 affiliated districts,” NMMS Director Daniel Gutierrez said. “By serving on this Council, I’ll be able to share the innovative economic development work being done in our New Mexico districts and help the NMSC with recovery efforts and new initiatives.”
Gutierrez holds a BA in Anthropology and Native American Studies from University of California Davis and an MA/PhD Candidacy in Cultural Anthropology from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Past academic research experience includes six years of fieldwork studying the impacts of revitalization and gentrification on low-income communities, New Mexican identity, space and place, and cultural citizenship in Albuquerque’s Historic Barelas Neighborhood. He is also one of the founding members of the Barelas Community Coalition, a non-profit community-based planning and development organization where he helped initiate and served as the first Executive Director of Barelas MainStreet.
The National Main Street Center was established as a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1980 as a way to address issues facing older and historic downtowns. Working with a nationwide network of coordinating programs and local communities, Main Street has helped over 2,000 communities across the country bring economic vitality back downtown, while celebrating their historic character, and bringing communities together.
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About New Mexico MainStreet: New Mexico MainStreet develops local capacity to engage people, rebuild places and grow the entrepreneurial, creative & business environment resulting in economically thriving downtowns, greater business & employment opportunities and a higher quality of life. New Mexico MainStreet was founded in 1984 and currently serves 31 affiliated MainStreet Districts, 12 affiliated Arts & Cultural Districts, 7 Frontier & Native American Community projects, and 8 Historic Theaters.
Learn more about New Mexico MainStreet’s programs at www.nmmainstreet.org. New Mexico MainStreet is a program of the New Mexico Economic Development Department, edd.newmexico.gov.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 15, 2020
Contact: Jessica Mraz
JessicaL.Mraz@state.nm.us
(505) 365-3998