SANTA FE – Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Wednesday announced the final member of her Cabinet in a news conference at the Capitol.

–Alisha Tafoya Lucero: New Mexico Corrections Department

“Secretary Tafoya Lucero has the experience, skills, vision and leadership this agency needs,” Gov. Lujan Grisham said. “I’m thrilled to have a New Mexican and a career public servant who has diligently worked her way up the ladder take this top leadership position. In her time as interim and deputy secretary, she was able to prove to me and, as important, to the agency she now leads that she is more than capable of delivering both stability and reform when it comes to system-wide safety, vacancy rates and effective re-entry programming, among other emphasis areas.”

Alisha Tafoya Lucero has been deputy secretary of the Corrections Department since April 2019, during which time she has also served as acting secretary. She has nearly two decades of experience in the New Mexico Corrections Department, beginning in 2001 as a classification officer. She has served as Deputy Warden and Interim Warden of the Penitentiary of New Mexico and Interim Warden of Springer Correctional Facility. She is a member of the American Correctional Society and a graduate of the Probation-Parole Officer Academy. Tafoya Lucero earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of New Mexico.