Our Team

Sandra McCardell

Coordinating Director

Sandra co-founded a national cooperative of micro-businesses in the energy efficiency business which operated as a purchasing and marketing cooperative for several years. She has assisted a cooperative network of international agencies working on alternative energy in Afghanistan and also founded and developed the New Mexico statewide Green Jobs Collaborative. She is on the Board of the American Sustainable Business Council, serves on the working committee of 1Worker1Vote, co-founded by Mondragon International North America, and owns a small energy efficiency consulting business.

Peter Chestnut

Advisor

Peter is the owner-attorney of Chestnut Law, PA. He serves as general counsel for several Pueblos and has advised cooperatives for more than 40 years. He helped to found La Montanita Cooperative and has continued to advise La Montanita in various capacities since its founding. Mr. Chestnut has provided legal counsel to the Agri-Cultura Network and has served as the New Mexico counsel to the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union’s cooperative development project.

Mary Knoblock

Senior Cooperative Education & Outreach Consultant

Mary was born and raised in Albuquerque and has over 25 years of operations, training, and project management experience.  She has organized and managed the successful implementation of new training and operation initiatives for both large and small companies.  Her passion and expertise focus on ensuring New Mexico continues to grow a thriving and sustainable economy through training and education.

Caitlin Kundrat

Senior Organizational Consultant

A professional with over a decade of experience in communications and development, Caitlin has served as a senior manager and consultant for private and non-profit organizations in both New Mexico and New York. She is the owner and farmer at The Bloomist, a cut flower farm located in Albuquerque’s North Valley, and is working alongside a group of New Mexico floral producers to start a growers cooperative. She currently helps to support CCNM’s strategy, fundraising, and outreach efforts, in addition to providing cooperative development assistance to CCNM’s growing list of agricultural clients.

Fred E. Mondragon

Advisor

Fred has over forty years of experience in the public and private sectors, with particular expertise in economic development. He has served as the Economic Development Director for the City of Albuquerque, the Cabinet Secretary for the Economic Development under the Richardson administration, and served in the New Mexico Legislature for three terms. He serves on numerous nonprofit Boards and owns several businesses. 

Eva Seidelman

Senior Consultant

Eva has provided legal and other advice and training to cooperatives throughout New Mexico as part of her positions with CCNM and Chestnut Law Offices, P.A. since the summer of 2018. She moved to Albuquerque from Washington, D.C., where she worked as a community economic development attorney,  advising low-income housing, marketing, and worker-owned cooperatives for more than four years. She sat on the advisory council of Cooperation DC, a worker cooperative resource and development organization and has organized and presented at several cooperative trainings.  She has worked and volunteered for various worker rights and community-based organizations for more than a decade.

Robin Seydel

Advisor

Robin helped to found La Montanita Cooperative and served as its Membership/Community Development Director from 1985 to 2017.  Robin helped to conceive and establish the La Montanita Fund, that utilizes investments from co-op members to make affordable loans to businesses with limited access to capital around the state. Her cooperative community development duties have also included leading development of a lending fund in coordination with New Mexico’s Nusenda Credit Union and other funders.

Kandis Quam

Local Cooperative Development Specialist

Kandis is an artist from the Pueblo of Zuni and a founding member-owner of the Ancestral Rich Treasures of Zuni Cooperative (ARTZ). Kandis attended New Mexico State University, where she graduated with a Bachelor's in Cultural Anthropology and a minor in American Indian Studies. Alongside her cousin, Kandis is the co-owner of Natachu INK, which focuses on providing the world with a means of exploration of Zuni culture and heritage through a wide range of artistry. A recent graduate of CooperationWorks! Building Blocks cooperative developer training course, Kandis will be working part-time with CCNM, assisting local cooperatives with their development and helping to lay the groundwork for a thriving local cooperative ecosystem.