Accounting for New Mexico’s Youngest

Peery-Galon Establishes New Department Serving the Youngest of New Mexicans

By Todd Fuqua

Renada Peery-Galon (BS 92) never thought she’d be taking care of the financials and operational concerns in state government when she was studying public relations at ENMU.

It’s a journey that began in Jefferson, South Dakota, where Renada lived on three acres “in the middle of nowhere,” surrounded by majestic corn and soybean fields as far as theeye could see.

Photo by Gerard Martinez

To hear Renada tell it, her upbringing was idyllic, with Friday night football games, a National Honor Society membership, and co-editing the school newspaper. She is also pretty certain she – at 5 feet, 11 inches – was the “tallest cheerleader ever” at her high school.

In the summers, she spent her time as a “bean bugger:” sitting on the front of a tractor to spray weeds in the soy bean fields under the hot July sun to earn some money for school clothes.

She came to Eastern in 1988 on a Chaparral Scholar award –signed by then-ENMU-President Dr. Robert Matheny.

Renada on the ENMU campus, circa 1989.

After graduating from Eastern, she pursued her masters in public administration at New Mexico State University. Her first job upon earning her masters was as an assistant auditor for the City of Arlington, Texas, in 1999. She came to work for the State of New Mexico in 2003, working as a fiscal analyst in Santa Fe for the Legislative Finance Committee.

Little did she know her first professional role would determine her career path.

“I did not know that budgets would become my niche,” Renada said. “I found I had a talent for it, and that’s where I ended up going.”

Now, her journey in public service has led her to be part of the creation of the new Early Childhood Education and Care Department (ECECD) in the state government.

On March 14, 2019, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed Senate Bill 22, establishing the new department, effective as of July 2020. Renada was hired to ensure a smooth transition.

She had to start from scratch, including hiring staff, creating policies and procedures for financial services, submitting capital outlay requests, building an operating budget and then revising that budget to reflect reductions from the June Legislative Special Session, establishing budget and salary projections, and reviewing sublease agreements and contracts. Since March, Renada has been juggling all of this from her home.

The department – one of only four in the country according to Renada – is meant to give young children from pre-natal to five years old a chance to grow up healthy and happy.

Renada is in a key position to make sure the ECECD is solvent, staffed and opens on schedule.

“I oversee the financial services, budget and human resources for the agency,’ she said. “I make sure purchase orders get processed and bills get paid in support of our programs. By investing early on with childhood development, you save a lot of money down the road as those children develop into adults.”

All of Renada’s professional experience led to this role. She also worked in the Children Youth and Families Department as an administrative services division director and in the juvenile justice services program as a budget manager. She later worked with a different State agency, the Public Employees Retirement Association. If it had to do with public funds, she was up for the challenge.

Like many New Mexicans, Peery-Galon finds herself working from her Santa Fe home during the COVID-19 pandemic, and most days at her back patio table.

Photo by Gerard Martinez

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Renada is working from home, attempting to orchestrate everything via the internet.

“There are challenges with State employees teleworking from home,” Renada said. “My staff in the Administrative Services Division has worked to establish electronic procedures using fillable forms with digital signatures and establishing email addresses to collect the forms. This way we can still process purchase orders, contracts, agreements and invoices.”

While she could have pursued a masters in business administration at NMSU and made more money in the private sector, Renada said her decision was driven by more altruistic reasoning.

Being part of a new department focused on the development of children at such a young age feels like the culmination of a long process that began when she became a mother two decades ago.

"It's weird having a child attending college where you went. I've seen that it's a great experience for Ryan."

Photo by Carolyn Wright – The Photography Studio

Her son, Ryan, is now attending ENMU pursuing a biology degree.

“When Ryan was diagnosed as autistic, the counselor said to me, ‘your job is to set him up to succeed,’” Renada remembers. “I realized that was my job as a mom, period – to set my kids up to succeed. ECECD is structured to do that. That is the goal – better outcomes for New Mexico kids.”

“It’s weird having a child attending college where you went. I’ve seen that it’s a great experience for him,” she added. “I can’t say enough about ENMU’s TRIO program and all that they’ve done for Ryan. The college does a really great job inviting people in and making them feel welcome.”

“One profound thing for me is how many life long friends I made at ENMU. ENMU and all my fellow Greyhound friends have made a difference in my life’s journey,”

Now, she’s a member of the ENMU Foundation Board of Directors, another way for her to serve future generations.

“Giving people the opportunity to earn an education is important. Higher education has put me on this path, and I wouldn’t have the life I had without it,” Renada said.