Office of Black Community Engagement Liaison
Office of Black Community Engagement Liaison Neema Picket
Neema hails from the rolling hills of Altadena California, where she grew up on a 24-acre working ranch. As a teenager their family relocated to New Mexico after her mother attended an environmental conference for Indigenous women and fell in love with the Albuquerque skies.
Neema believes that entrepreneurship is the way to move families from poverty to financial freedom. Her passion for building community wealth led her to join the Women’s Business Center in New Mexico, where she supported the community to achieve its entrepreneurial goals through consulting, training and lending. Her work within the state of New Mexico and at the National level earned her the honor of National Business Advisor of the Year from the Association of Women’s Business Centers and the SBA’s prestigious 2023 Business Center of the Year award. Recently Neema was selected as a WK Kellogg Foundation Community Leader and will serve as a fellow through 2025.
Neema is a dynamic leader with I&D program development and workshop/training facilitation experience. Recognized for demonstrating a natural aptitude for strengthening diversity, inclusion, equity, and anti-racism practices, as well as for overseeing HR and employee management operations and executing impactful, data-driven decisions, she brings a passion to her new role as Office of Black Community Engagement liaison.
Her Professional focal points include program management, cultural sensitivity and equity training, team leadership, public speaking, human resources, data analysis, refugee services management, and integrative health.
In her spare time, you’ll find Neema in her garden or cuddling with miniature horses and goats. Colleagues describe Neema as a progressive, driven, down-to-earth, equity-focused and leadership expert who can be relied on to offer superior solutions that deliver impactful results.
Neema is thrilled to join the team at the Office of Equity and Inclusion and is excited to lead the Office of Black Community Engagement to new heights in 2024.