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Special Episode 1 Viante New Mexico Fosters Bipartisanship Hosts Rhiannon Samuel, Executive Director of Viante New Mexico recaps the August 2019 anniversary event and shared the panel discussion. Hosts & Guests Rhiannon Samuel Deena Crawley Senator Michael Padilla Minority Leader, Representative Jim Townsend Resources Common Ground Issues Viante's Process Join Viante New Mexico Download Episode About This Episode Hosts Rhiannon Samuel, Executive Director of Viante New Mexico gives a foreword to a legislative panel held at Viante's Anniversary Event in August 2019. Panel moderator and Co-Chair of Viante New Mexico, Deena Crawley, fosters a bipartisan conversation between democrat, Senator Michael Padilla, and republican Jim Townsend to identify the areas of agreement. Deena spent the first portion of her career inside an advertising agency and has worked in a variety of industries including retail, public health, automotive, real estate, higher education, and finance. She is a two-time Effie finalist, a former President of the American Advertising Federation–NM and has been inducted into the University of New Mexico Anderson School of Management Hall of Fame as a Young Alumni. In her current role as Chief of Staff, Marketing Director and Executive Team Member at Dion’s, a regional restaurant based in Albuquerque, she nurtures all brand touch points including advertising, communications, community relations, and social media. She is a volunteer for Make A Wish New Mexico, a mentor for Fathers Building Futures, and is a graduate of Leadership NM. She cares deeply about her home state of New Mexico and works hard to improve the things that cause people to consider moving away. Representative Jim Townsend a native New Mexican, born and raised in an agriculture family in Southeastern New Mexico. Representative Townsend began his career in the oil and gas industry with Southern Union Co and then the last 33 years with Holly Corporation, Holly Energy Partners and HollyFrontier. He retired in 2011 as Senior Vice President of a Holly Energy Partners and Vice President of Holly Frontier. Representative Townsend led the operations of Holly Energy Partners for many years and led the single largest capital investment of HollyFrontier in the formation of UNEV Pipeline Company and partnership developed between Sinclair Transportation and Holly Corporation, approximately $500M. He has served on the Board of Directors for Holly Energy Partners serving on the Conflicts Committee and Personnel Committee. Representative Townsend was elected to represent New Mexico House District 54 in 2015 and was named by his peers as the house minority leader in 2019. Senator Michael Padilla grew up in Los Padillas, a rural farming community that his family helped settle over 150 years ago, and is located inside of the district he represents. Padilla has always been involved in the Democratic Party of New Mexico, serving as a precinct chairman, ward chairman, county central committee member and state central committee member. He has also served on numerous boards and commissions prior to becoming a senator, including Youth Development Incorporated, Special Olympics New Mexico, Junior Achievement of New Mexico, Association of Commerce and Industry of New Mexico, the New Mexico State Workforce Development Board, and several others. Senator Padilla founded Altivus CRM Solutions, a contact center and consulting firm, in 2000. The company specializes in building contact centers and providing a number of operational consulting services affecting people, process, and technology. He still serves as Chairman and CEO of the company.