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. Zavelle joined NMFA in June 2009.  Mr. Zavelle has an extensive and varied background in finance with public and private universities, a major cultural organization, and as a capital markets banker in Asia responsible for client relations and for loan and bond underwriting, syndication and private placement.  He served as a VP/CFO for Fisk University, Brooklyn College/CUNY , and Baruch College/CUNY, as Vice Chancellor for Administration & Planning for City University of New York, as SVP and Chief Operating Officer for The New York Public Library, and as a Managing Director with Chase Manhattan Asia Limited in Hong Kong and Tokyo.  Mr. Zavelle has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Dartmouth College and a Masters of Business Administration degree from Harvard University.

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.