Our Board of Directors and Staff - Los Alamos Community Foundation

Each member of our Board of Directors has a deep personal commitment to Los Alamos. Together, they lead the Los Alamos Community Foundation using their expertise, their knowledge of our community, and their passionate belief in the power of philanthropy to change lives.

The Board establishes policy, sets priorities and makes final decisions to authorize grants. All Directors are volunteers who serve without pay for three-year terms. Steve Laurent, our Executive Director, has operational responsibilities and works to implement Board policy.

As a community member of Los Alamos for over 30 years, Pat Soran has been involved in many non‐profit organizations. In 1996 he co-founded the Los Alamos Lunch Buddies Program and after getting 125 adult volunteers, Pat turned the program over to Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Northern New Mexico. In 1997 Pat founded the Diane Soran Foundation and spent several years restoring and refurbishing the Tot Lot parks and play areas of Los Alamos. Under Pat’s directorship, the Diane Soran Foundation also provided scholarships to graduating Los Alamos High School seniors. From 1999 to 2009 Pat served on the board of directors and was president of the Crisis Center of Northern New Mexico. In 2014, Pat and his wife Ann Hayes were co‐chairpersons of the Northern New Mexico United Way campaign. In addition to being a member of the Founder’s Society of the Los Alamos Community Foundation, Pat serves on the UNM-LA Advisory Board and is an active 20-year member of the Kiwanis Club of Los Alamos, managing the community’s annual 4th of July fireworks display for many years. Pat is a recipient of the Jim West “Spirit of the West” award from Los Alamos Assets in Action.

Pat’s educational background includes Ph.D. and Master of Science degrees in nuclear engineering from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from the United States Merchant Marine Academy. Pat retired from Los Alamos National Laboratory in 1999 after enjoying a career that included several technical managerial positions. He is also a retired US Navy captain. In his retirement, Pat enjoys watching his grandchildren grow up, woodworking, and playing golf.

Linda Daly moved to Los Alamos in 1992 when she joined the University of New Mexico Los Alamos as its Community Education director. In 1999, she was hired by The Family YMCA Board of Directors as its Chief Executive Officer. After nearly 20 years, Linda retired from the Y in October 2018.

Prior her to CEO position, Linda served on The Family YMCA Board of Directors. She is a past president of the UNM-LA Advisory Board where she served for two terms. She is a graduate of Leadership Los Alamos and Leadership New Mexico. Linda chaired the New Mexico Alliance of YMCAs for over 12 years. Additionally, she served on the national Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Council for the YMCA of the USA and is past President of the national Asian Pacific Islander Leadership Network for YUSA.

Linda graduated from the University of Hawaii where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and in Communications.

Cindy Rooney moved to Los Alamos in 1998 with her husband and two daughters. She serves as treasurer of the United Way of Northern New Mexico Board and is a member of the Los Alamos Commerce and Economic Development Corporation Board.

Cindy is the Chief Executive Officer for the University of New Mexico Los Alamos. She has been involved in higher education for more than 25 years, previously teaching at the College of William and Mary, Xavier University, and UNM-Albuquerque before coming to UNM-LA. Cindy received a Ph.D. in Accounting, with a minor in Organizational Behavior, from the University of Tennessee.

Diana Martinez located to Los Alamos with her family in 1991 from Springfield, Il., following her husband’s four-year stint with the Illinois Department of Nuclear Safety. Having young children, she worked at home as a freelance writer placing articles, short pieces, and poems in Family Circle, Christian Parenting Today, New Mexico Magazine, New Frontiers of New Mexico and local periodicals. In 1998, she began a 25-year career with The Family YMCA eventually serving as a Senior Program Director and Development Director with a focus on grant writing.

She served on the Los Alamos County and LAPS Schools Trinity property development advisory committee for the two years prior to the 2014 Smith’s Food and Drug Store opening. She was a 2006 graduate of Leadership Los Alamos, and a recipient of their 2017 Distinguished Alumni Award. Diana placed second in the Southwest Writers Workshop Juvenile Novel contest in 1994, has taught writing classes at UNM-LA, and served on grant review committees. Now retired, she is dabbling once again in writing and historical family research. Diana has a bachelor of journalism degree from the University of Missouri.

John Benner joined Los Alamos National Laboratory in 1993, and moved to Los Alamos in 1995. He has held a variety of leadership positions at the Laboratory including Associate Director for Weapon Engineering and Experiments and Executive Officer for Weapon Programs. John left the Laboratory and Los Alamos briefly during 2017-2019 while he was the Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of MSTS the management and operating contractor for the Nevada National Security Site before returning to LANL and an assignment in Washington DC at NNSA Headquarters. John is currently the Associate Laboratory Director for Weapon Production and leads the plutonium pit production activities at the Laboratory.

He has a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering and a M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from West Virginia University. John was recently inducted into the Academy of Distinguished Alumni of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering there in 2023. He is the recipient of several Defense Programs Awards of Excellence.

John and his wife Kelly have raised their three sons in White Rock. Their sons attended Los Alamos Public Schools, participated in Little League, Church Youth groups, and Boy Scouts. They enjoy being part of the White Rock and Los Alamos Community.

David Izraelevitz has been involved in many community organizations in Los Alamos since moving here with his family over 20 years ago, including the Los Alamos Lunch Buddies program at Barranca Mesa Elementary School, the MathCounts team at Los Alamos Middle School, the Los Alamos Employees’ Scholarship Fund, the J.R. Oppenheimer Memorial Committee, and past president of the Los Alamos Jewish Center and the Jewish Community Council of Northern New Mexico. David is a founding board member of the Los Alamos Community Foundation.

David served as a member of the Los Alamos County Planning and Zoning Commission from 2004-2009 and was a member of the Los Alamos County Charter Review Committee until his appointment to the Los Alamos County Council in July 2011. He has since been re-elected twice and has served two terms as Council Chair.

After telecommuting from Los Alamos for 10 years, David joined Los Alamos National Laboratory in 2005, where he retired as Research Engineer and Team Leader. He received a B.S. degree, Magna Cum Laude, in computer and systems engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and S.M., E.E., and Sc.D. degrees in electrical engineering and computer science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Steve Lynne moved to New Mexico in 1994 and then to Los Alamos in 1996. He holds a Master’s Degree in Accounting. Prior to coming to Los Alamos County, Steve worked with public accounting firms in Florida and New Mexico, with an emphasis in auditing local government clients.

Since joining Los Alamos County in February 1996, Steve spent the first 14 years with the County’s Finance division rising to Chief Financial Officer in 2000. In 2010, he was promoted to Administrative Services Director/Chief Financial Officer responsible for the performance of the Information Technology, Finance, Procurement and Materials Management, and Risk Management divisions. In February 2011 he was appointed to one of two Acting Assistant County Administrator positions to assist in the operational oversight of all departments and overall coordination of several of the County’s major projects. Steve later was promoted to Deputy Manager, and in that position, Steve had oversight of the Administrative Services Department, as well as the Community Services Department. In July 2021, Steve was appointed as County Manager.

Steve and his wife Suzanne raised their kids here in Los Alamos. Steve recently retired after 28 years of service to Los Alamos County. He and Suzanne love Los Alamos, have no plans to leave, and are looking forward to being retired together here.

Liz Martineau brings 37 years of service to the Los Alamos community to the LACF. She previously taught school, provided outreach through the Bradbury Science Museum, served as the Executive Director of the Los Alamos Historical Society, served on numerous nonprofit boards and managed the Los Alamos Ambassador Program. Her broad work experience gives her a unique perspective regarding the opportunities and challenges facing local organizations.

Liz raised two daughters in Los Alamos. She is a fiber artist who enjoys camping and hiking. She and her husband, Gordon McDonough, also own a traveling math museum that seeks to inspire and excite people about the beauty and adventures of mathematics. Along with her Education degree from Kansas State University, she has a master's degree in Instructional Leadership.