Dr. Karen Cheser, Superintendent of Durango 9-R, Board Chair

Karen Cheser, Ed.D., is Superintendent of Durango School District 9-R in Durango, CO and was previously superintendent of award-winning Fort Thomas Independent Schools and Deputy Superintendent/ CAO of Boone County Schools, both in the Northern KY/ Cincinnati area.

Prior to working in education as a teacher, coach, literacy and math specialist, principal, state Distinguished Educator and district administrator, Karen worked for Procter & Gamble Inc. in sales management. Karen has been instrumental in bringing innovation, student agency, and a focus on future workforce to the regions in which she has worked.

Karen earned an Ed.D. (Educational Leadership and Business Informatics) from Northern KY University and has presented at numerous conferences on topics such as designing innovation, strategic planning, process improvement, student empowerment, global competency, 21st century skills, dispositional hiring and leading higher academic standards. Karen is mom to two college-aged sons, wife to an entrepreneur/ woodworker, loves to travel, and coaches robotics in her spare time.

Kim White, Superintendent of Silverton School, Board Treasurer

La Titia Taylor, Director of Education for Southern Ute Indian Tribe, Board Member

Born in Durango, Colorado, La Titia is an enrolled member of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe. She received her High School Diploma from Ignacio High School in 1984 and enrolled at Oklahoma Christian University of Arts and Science fall of 1984 where she played 2 years of college basketball. La Titia transferred and received her BS from University of Central Oklahoma in 1988 and her MS in Biology from Southwest Texas State University in 1991. While obtaining her Master’s degree, she did research at the British Museum in London, England and the jungles of Malaysia. She taught Botany for 2 years at SWTSU and in 1992 was hired by the Southern Utes Natural Resource Department. In 1999, La Titia became the Higher Education Director, and in 2009 to today is the Education Director.

While in Oklahoma City La Titia coached 8-10 year old boys for the YMCA and has coached boys and girls AAU and Sun Ute Peewee league, Ignacio Boys Junior High, Team Colorado 16-18 year old boys for the Indigenous Games (coached from 1986 to 2010). She has guest lectured for various colleges and Universities: Fort Lewis, Western State University, Prescott College, Pueblo Community College, Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (SIPI).  

Troy Dyer, President of Veritas Fine Homes, Board Member

As a third-generation carpenter, Troy passionately pursued his career and education in practical construction and construction management through the Carpenters Union Apprenticeship Program in Southern California. Due to his knack and passion for building, he obtained many internships with high volume commercial construction companies and senior project managers. These internships led to a fast progression through training and advanced him into supervisory positions early in his career. Through these experiences and knowledge gained, he moved into the custom residential sector of the industry before leaving California.

In 1994 Troy settled in Durango Colorado and formed the Dyerbilt Companies with his father, Terry Dyer. Dyerbilt Companies focused on the luxury home market and as Vice-President of Business Development, Troy grew the company from $400,000 to $18 million annually in fourteen years. During this time, the team earned several awards in design, business management and environmental crusades through various organizations and publications both locally and nationally. In 2009, Dyerbilt was forced to think outside of the box with the pending Great Recession and combined their business with a competitor in order to continue to prosper. Troy maintained a position as President and acquired projects, created jobs, and maintained a recognized brand in the community. Known for their strength and second to none quality the company was able to weather the storm. As the market recovered, in 2013 Troy founded Veritas Fine Homes Inc and is the current President. Veritas focuses on an intimate experience for its clients while providing exceptional service and quality in both the luxury residential and light commercial sectors in Southwestern Colorado. In addition to being an innovative and successful business owner who has provided career opportunities in the Southwest region for over 10 years, Troy has sat on boards with the Big Brothers/ Big Sisters organization and The Home Builders Association of Southwest Colorado.

In his spare time, Troy and his amazing wife, Dr. Angela Pinkerton, DMD have 5 children and enjoy entertaining friends and family, camping, boating, traveling to Mexico, and off-road adventures in the deserts of the Southwest. Their combined passion for Durango and SW Colorado runs deep and they are all proud and blessed to call the area home.

Dr. Lisa Snyder, Executive Dean at Pueblo Community College Southwest, Board Member

Dr. Lisa Snyder and her family have lived in Durango since 2013. Prior to joining PCC Southwest, she was the dean of the School of Humanities at San Juan College. She also worked as the associate vice president for academic affairs at Fort Lewis College.

Her career in education spans more than 20 years. In addition to leadership positions in higher education, she was a faculty member at universities in New York and Oregon. Snyder is a first-generation college graduate. She earned her doctorate in instructional leadership from Argosy University in Sarasota, Fla., a master’s in curriculum development and instructional technology from the State University of New York Albany and a bachelor degree in English from SUNY New Paltz.

Snyder is based at the PCC Southwest campus in Mancos and also oversees sites in Durango and Bayfield.

Dr. Jenni Trujillo, Dean of School of Education, Fort Lewis College, Board Member

Dr. Jenni Trujillo has worked as a bilingual multicultural educator for 25 years serving in English Learner education--ranging from classroom teacher to EL/Bilingual Director to college professor to author. Her publications include several articles and an EL literacy program consisting of four student textbooks and their accompanying teacher’s guides. The National Geographic series was the most widely adopted ESL textbook in the nation for students in grades 4-12 (2010) and was used to teach English in 26 states, Mexico, China, Canada, and Costa Rica. She has conducted multiple academic presentations promoting effective education of English Learners at a variety of conferences at the local, state, regional, national, and international levels. She served as an advisory board member of Teaching Tolerance (part of the Southern Poverty law Center) where she focused on culturally responsive instruction and social justice in education. Dr. Trujillo also worked with teachers and students in the Southwest and the Navajo Nation for over two decades through the Native American Teacher Education Outreach Program at Fort Lewis College, as well as teaching in the on-campus program in the Teacher Education Department. In addition, she taught in a Service-Learning Program in Bahía de Kino, Sonora, Mexico and has also worked with the Ute tribes in Indigenous language revitalization. She was the National Director of English Language Acquisition for Pearson Education where she worked with educators in 40 states and 11 countries. She later served as the Director of English Language Learner Initiatives at Learning in Motion in Santa Cruz, CA. In that role, she worked on a variety of initiatives including the development of a tablet-based literacy program, collaboration on a large-scale research project in math with the American Institutes for Research, and a STEM curriculum with Stanford University. Most recently, she co-authored four textbooks and a curriculum for EL newcomers at the early elementary, elementary, middle school and high school levels with Vista Higher Learning. She returned to Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado in 2020 where she currently serves as Dean of the School of Education. In that role, she has been very involved in rural education, as well as state and national initiatives on diversifying the educator workforce.

Leon Handhart, Superintendent of Bayfield School District, Board Member

Gina Schulz, Parent Representative, Board Member

Gina Schulz has been an active member of the Southwest Community for 25 years. A resident of Ignacio, she is a mother and grandmother and was a licensed Therapeutic Foster Parent for at-risk adolescents from across the 4 Corners region.  She has been working with youth and families in and out of schools as an Advocate, Coach, Tutor, Teacher, Aide and Volunteer Coordinator since 1996. She has served on numerous local Boards, Advisory, Accountability and Policy Committees through the years always with the same end goal - empowering and engaging the community for success. She has applied her degree in Communication Studies in the business sector as a Marketing & Sales Manager as well as National & International Business Development in Finance.

When not involved in and supporting activities with her husband and children she enjoys reading, ministry and cuddling the family pets. One of her favorite quotes and guiding principles is from Aristotle, "Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort and intelligent execution."

Dr. Kane Anderson, Elevate Orthopedics, Board Member

Specializing in the full range of injuries from the collarbone to the fingertips Dr. Kane Anderson is located in Durango, Colorado and is the only double board certified surgeon (both Hand Surgery as well as Orthopedic Surgery) in the Four Corners area.  Dr. Anderson believes that patients are more than their X-rays and MRIs. He has a strong and vested commitment to the Southwest region. With 3 children and a wife that also owns her own practice, Dr. Anderson understands that a well rounded community with robust offerings of education and career awareness is paramount to a successful community. 

Jennifer Thurston, Weaselskin Institute, Board Member

Jennifer believes we all need to align with our beneficiaries in regeneration of resources and environmental solutions.  She joins the SWCEC board with an understanding that the innovation of ideas is best created through empowering our educational opportunities, partnering with our communities, and connecting students directly to the land/environment.

Jennifer is personally invested in this mission by consolidating 700 acres into a private conservation easement with the sole purpose of running profitable but environmentally sustainable businesses while also providing focused public access to the land/environment for education and research in conservation of cultural resources, regenerative agriculture, wellness services and therapies, and how to use business as a force for good. Pulling on her years of experience in being an educative mentor, school board and community service board member, and on coordinating educational opportunities for all age groups, Jennifer sees her job as connecting people to the land/environment and animals.

Lisa Jacket , Tribal Representative, Board Member

I’m a member of Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and live on the reservation. I attended school in a rural area where most students are bussed 15 miles to Cortez, Colorado to attend public school, and it took me off to other avenues to seek my education. It felt important to embrace my heritage. I also attended other schooling - a boarding school in Oklahoma. My family strives for education as a main priority and to bring back knowledge and to use what we achieved in our degree to help people in all avenues to advocate for the Membership. 

I manage to utilize the skills I obtained in my education. I received my GED and kept going to receive my Associates in Business and managed to maintain my GPA at the Southwest Community College/ Pueblo Community College. I was inducted into PHi Theta Kappa.

I am currently a homemaker and share a home with my companion. I have 5 adult children and 7 grandchildren. I enjoy and teach the importance of education. 

I seek the opportunity of a position with the SWCEC board and be the voice and advocate for a strong voice for UMUT in education