New Mexico open government group names executive director

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -

A former assistant news editor and reporter for the Rio Grande Sun in Española has been named executive director of the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government.

Sarah Welsh succeeds Albuquerque attorney Leonard DeLayo Jr., who was appointed to the position in October 2007 after the death of Bob Johnson, a longtime journalist and Associated Press executive who helped start the foundation in the late 1980s.

"This organization is his legacy, and if I could be half the advocate for open government that he was, I'd be doing a great job," said Welsh, who began work this week.

Welsh, 31, joined the Española weekly newspaper in 2006. She covered the New Mexico Legislature and did numerous enterprise projects involving courts, politics, education and city government.

Before that, she worked for KaBoom!, a national organization dedicated to building playgrounds, and United Press International in Washington, D.C.

Read more about the new director here.

Visit the New Mexico site and read about their new executive director here.

New Mexico Foundation for Open Government is a member of NFOIC.