SANTA FE – The Thornburg Foundation has announced that Lynn Trujillo will serve as its new Water Policy Officer, leading the Foundation’s Water Initiative at a pivotal moment for New Mexico. With snowpack at record lows, shrinking reservoirs, curtailed agricultural water deliveries, and catastrophic wildfire growing more acute each year, the need for experienced, effective water policy leadership has never been greater.
As the Water Policy Officer, Trujillo will direct and refine the Foundation’s Water Initiative, guiding its four core strategies: advocating for improvements in New Mexico water governance; building resilient water systems in key river basins and aquifers; promoting community water equity; and advancing science and data systems to support water planning and management. She will manage the Water Initiative’s annual grantmaking portfolio of $1.2 million, identifying strategic grant opportunities and partnering with nonprofit organizations to advance climate-resilient water policy across the state.
“Lynn brings exactly the combination of legal expertise, tribal relations, and policy experience that this moment requires,” said Allan Oliver, President of the Thornburg Foundation. “Her deep roots in New Mexico and her work at the tribal, state and federal level of water policy make her the ideal person to lead this initiative.”
Warming, aridification, drought, and extreme weather and fire events are reshaping New Mexico’s water future. The Foundation’s Water Initiative is responding with a comprehensive package of policy improvements, from water conservation programs and right-sized funding to pilot projects and climate-resilient agricultural systems. The Initiative’s second phase (2026–2030) will focus on implementing key programs and projects such as regional water planning, Active Water Resources Management, the Strategic Water Reserve, Indian water rights settlements, state water infrastructure programs, and the Rio Grande Basin Study. Statewide coalitions including the Water Ambassadors, the Groundwater Alliance, and the Water Policy Forum will anchor education and advocacy campaigns through 2027 and beyond.
Trujillo’s background maps directly onto these priorities. As Senior Counselor to the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, she oversaw Indian Water Rights Settlements, positioning her to advance the Initiative’s work on tribal water rights agreements and rural and Tribal water planning. As Cabinet Secretary of the New Mexico Indian Affairs Department, she facilitated collaboration among the Governor’s office, state agencies, and 23 Indian tribes, nations, and pueblos, which is precisely the cross-agency partnership required to move governance reform forward. Most recently, she supported the Office of the State Engineer and Interstate Stream Commission in furthering implementation of the 50-Year Water Plan, with a focus on water workforce and water education, giving her firsthand knowledge of the institutions at the center of the Foundation’s second-phase work.
Trujillo shared about her recent appointment, “It’s an honor to join the Thornburg Foundation to further the impactful and respected work of the Foundation’s water initiative to advance strategic change that serves our communities and people. I thank Patrick McCarthy for his leadership and years of dedication to establish and advance the water initiative.”
Trujillo earned her Juris Doctor from the University of New Mexico School of Law and her Bachelor of Arts from Dartmouth College. An enrolled member of Sandia Pueblo and part Acoma and Taos pueblos, she brings deep personal and professional ties to the communities the Water Initiative is designed to serve.
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Founded in 1999, Thornburg Foundation is a family foundation based in Santa Fe that seeks to advance systems change that serves the public good. The Foundation uses an evidence-based strategic approach to make grants to nonprofits focused on K–12 Education, Water, Land and Agriculture, Pursuing Public Funds, Housing, and Homelessness. For more information on Thornburg Foundation’s water initiative, visit thornburgfoundation.org