NMFA Bond Team

Ms. Russel joined the Finance Authority in September, 2000 and had been serving as Chief of Programs since 2003.  Ms. Russel was appointed as the Finance Authority's Chief Executive Officer in November 2019.  Prior to joining the Finance Authority, Ms. Russel spent 10 years at the Illinois Development Finance Authority, where she held the positions of Marketing Director and Senior Program Administrator.  Ms. Russel earned her Bachelor of Science degree from Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Mr. Pierce is the Finance Authority's former financial advisor who joined the Finance Authority in October 2022 as the Chief Financial Strategist.  Mr. Pierce acted as financial advisor to municipal entities from 1986 to 2019, at which point he retired for approximately 3.5 years.  During his career he served as financial advisor to five state bond banks.  As advisor to the Finance Authority from its creation in 1992, Mr. Pierce oversaw the issuance of more than $2.5 billion of Finance Authority debt.  He was instrumental in the development of the Finance Authority's flagship Public Project Revolving Fund program in 1994-1995 and advised the Finance Authority in its relationships with the rating agencies.  Mr. Pierce earned a Bachelor's degree from the Colorado College and a Master's degree from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Lovato joined NMFA in August 2003 coming to NMFA from the State of New Mexico PERA.  Mr. Lovato has over 18 years of experience in Investments and Finance, majority of that time spent in the public sector.  Mr. Lovato has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration/Finance from the University of New Mexico, and a Master’s degree in Business Administration/Finance from the New York Institute of Technology.

Mr. Opperman joined NMFA in Novermber 2010 as Assistant General Counsel and became General Counsel in October 2012.  Prior to joining NMFA, Mr. Opperman served as General Counsel for the New Mexico Department of Transportation ("NMDOT") for two years.  Mr. Opperman obtained his law degree from the University of New Mexico School of Law and his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of New Mexico.  Mr. Opperman is a retired professional baseball player with the Los Angeles Dodgers organization.

Mr. Rodriguez joined NMFA in October 2016.  Before that, he served as the Finance Director for the City of Santa Fe.  Mr. Rodriguez has more than 25 years of experience managing local government financing in New Mexico, District of Columbia, Texas, Maryland, and abroad.  He received a Masters of City Planning degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1982 and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University in 1980.

Christine brings over ten years of experience in capital planning, ongoing debt portfolio management, transaction management and strategic financial planning for municipal clients. Christine has been involved in the debt structuring and issuance of over $10 billion in bond issues. In addition to her transaction experience, Christine works with municipal entities on long-term capital planning, policy development and capacity analysis, public private partnerships relating to real estate development of publicly owned land, and credit strategy development. She identifies opportunities regarding market and legislative developments, financing ideas, and sector trends. Christine provides financial advisory project management for a variety of clients including the New Mexico Finance Authority, State of Oregon, State of Hawaii, Port of San Francisco, and San Francisco International Airport. Christine serves as Vice President of Asian Americans in Public Finance and Vice President (Programs) of Women in Public Finance, Northern California Chapter.