Board of Directors

Jerry Haas

SENIOR ADVISOR

Jerry is a retired United Methodist minister who has worked as a chaplain, pastor and denominational executive in multi-cultural and international contexts. He values the importance of non-profit organizations and loves BCA’s inclusive focus. Read Jerry’s “The People of BCA” Interview here.

“I have lived in Arizona for twenty-five years but while I knew the challenge of the border, it was only through BCA that I began to hear what Mexicans are thinking and doing and how we can work together. For that I am very grateful.”

Susan Scott

Board of directors, president

Susan moved to the desert southwest after a long career in human resources with a fortune 500 company. She has a broad background of working with a variety of nonprofits including establishing a community foundation in the Seattle area. She first learned about BCA on their trip to Spain, realizing how it perfectly fit with her own experiences in Mexico. Her parents first exposed her to the Mexican culture when they sponsored a Tijuana family’s immigration to the United States. She has traveled extensively throughout Mexico and lived one summer in Guadalajara.

Susan joined the board in 2019 having served as Secretary and Treasurer. She has most recently returned to the board as President. “I have never been involved with a nonprofit that so aligned with my own beliefs and values. Everything about BCA is meaningful and special to me”.

Sara Martin

Board of Directors, treasurer

Sara retired to Green Valley after a 40+ year business career in Colorado. A native of the New Mexico borderlands, she has always been interested in the language, history and culture of Mexico and Latin America. Her involvement in BCA stems from a day trip to Magdalena in the spring of 2017, quickly followed by a Nogales tour, and she soon became an active volunteer at BCA.

“The value and importance of BCA to the Borderlands became clear to me when I had the opportunity to review the comments of people who’d experienced BCA Cross Border visits orenjoyed a Borderlands Forum program. BCA makes a positive difference as a unique resource for people to become more aware of our rich shared heritage with Mexico, to participate in social investment with our neighbor, and learn more about the life in the Sonoran Desert on both sides of the border. I want to help make that difference!”

Neil Best

Board of Directors

I first began to explore the Sonoran Desert in 1977 and over the years have been drawn back time and time again.  We now own a home in Green Valley and come and go throughout the year from our other home in northern Colorado.  My career was 50 years in public radio where I had a wonderful career without having to work a single day.

It is an honor to be a member of the BCA board where my goal is to help wherever I can to continue the educational work of the organization and make more of our communities aware of the similarities of our shared boarder land. 

Rita Cantu

Board of Directors

Rita grew up in Tucson, roaming the desert lowlands and “sky island” mountains of southern Arizona.  She has pursued deeper understandings of her Mexican immigrant roots with an ever-branching appreciation of the culture and history they anchor. Her interpretive career as a ranger in national parks and forests further enriches a lifetime of “ah-ha’s” that encompasses her avocation as singer/ songwriter/ storyteller of The People (as nearly every indigenous group calls itself in its own language). Calling places like Spain, Australia, Scotland, Maui and Alaska “home” at times, she nonetheless considers herself first and always a bona-fide Desert Rat, and no place holds her heart like the verdant Sonoran.

“Why BCA? Even though my farm is north of Prescott, being part of this community feeds my constant hunger for the land and people of the Borderlands; and if I’m fed, I must also feed.  Here I can nourish these deepest roots in myself and others: a sense of Place, a sense of Self, a sense of Purpose.  And did I mention joy, delight, fun? SI, SE PUEDE!”

Oscar Cardenas

board of directors

I recently graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in Political Science and a minor in Legal Studies. I’m the son of Mexican immigrants, and growing up in a bilingual household taught me the importance of community and connection. Helping my family navigate healthcare and legal systems inspired my passion for advocacy and shaped my long-term goal of practicing law with a focus on equity and access. I was drawn to BCA because its mission reflects both my values and my lived experience on the U.S.– Mexico border. I’m excited to support BCA’s work and connect with others who share a commitment to strengthening our border community.

Connie Counter

board of directors

I became a member of BCA after moving from northwestern Wisconsin to Green Valley at the end of 2017. After retiring from a secretarial career in both the corporate and governmental sectors, I developed an interest in alternative and complementary healing modalities and became a certified Healing Touch practitioner. My first introduction to BCA was a cross-border day trip to Nogales, Sonora. Since then, I’ve enjoyed the wide variety of opportunities BCA provides — from trips and tours, to Let’s Speak Spanish classes, to engaging speaker programs and social gatherings — all of which have enriched my experience of discovering the rich cultural heritage of my new home in the southern Borderlands. I’m excited to serve as a member of the BCA Board and look forward to engaging in opportunities that promote the mission and goals of this wonderful organization.

Tim Dornfeld

board of directors

I worked in churches and small nonprofits in Minnesota for 40 years and I hope to bring that variety of nonprofit experience to the BCA Board. I spent 15 of those years working at an inner-city Catholic elementary school where about 3/4 of the families were first generation immigrants, mostly from Mexico. I'd been visiting Green Valley for 30 years and now that I am retired, I escape the Minnesota winters with my wife for about six months. When we were invited to a Borderlands Ambassador breakfast and I learned about BCA, it seemed like a natural next step for me to go beyond what I had experienced with immigrant families to promoting cooperation and learning across the border. I look forward to being a part of those efforts as a member of the Board.

Quinn Jones

Board of directors

I work as an International Trade Paralegal in Washington, D.C., and I’m also a proud Borderlands Ambassador alumna from the 2022 cohort. I first discovered BCA’s mission while studying abroad in Madrid, Spain, and I was eager to experience life at the U.S.-Mexico border firsthand while continuing to practice my Spanish. My summer in Nogales left a deep impression on me—the strength and resilience of the communities I met there inspired me to center my senior Government research project on border issues. That project, “Shelters or Tents? Exploring Subnational Variation in Community Response at the U.S.-Mexico Border,” earned departmental honors at Hamilton College, where I graduated in 2023 with dual concentrations in Government and Hispanic Studies. After graduation, I returned to Madrid on a Fulbright English Teaching Grant, where I taught in a Spanish high school and worked with the Global Classrooms program to help students engage as active global citizens through Model United Nations. Now, in my current role, I prepare filings for countervailing duty and antidumping cases before the Department of Commerce and the International Trade Commission. I plan to pursue law school in the future with an interest in international and nonprofit law. Outside of work, I love practicing yoga, diving into historical fiction, and volunteering with a local “Know Your Rights” organization. I’m especially excited to join the BCA Board of Directors and give back to the community that shaped me so profoundly and introduced me to lifelong friends.

Allison Kreis

Board of Directors

Allison is Co-Director of La Tierra del Jaguar, a binational nonprofit that regenerates nature and community in the land of the jaguar. A lifelong love of animals led her to earn a B.S. in Animal Sciences from the University of Arizona and work as a zookeeper at Reid Park Zoo and the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson for more than 20 years. Born and raised in the US borderlands, she now lives in Sahuaripa, Sonora, Mexico, where her work focuses on developing community-based conservation initiatives.

“I was drawn to BCA because of the positive light that they shine on the people and communities of the borderlands. I feel the work that BCA does is important to changing the narrative around issues in the region by exposing people on both sides of the border to the culture and compassion that makes this place special.”

José A. López

BOARD of directorS

José was born and raised on the Mexican border in Laredo, Texas; the son of a Mexican immigrant father and Mexican American mother.  He served in the US Army after graduating from the University of North Texas and is the father of three children and four grandkids. His life's profession has been in education, starting as a teacher in Texas and eventually became a K-12 administrator. Holding leadership positions as principal and subsequently as Superintendent of schools, José later moved to California in 1994 and started teaching Educational Leadership at the California State University, East Bay. He moved to Tubac in June 2019 and taught online classes and fully retired in 2021. José joined the BCA Board of Directors in 2021.  He served as Treasurer for 2 years and President for 2 years. He seeks to broaden the reach of BCA into Tucson and Nogales. Read Jose’s “The People of BCA” Interview here.

“It is important for me to contribute to the BCA community given my lived experiences as a son of a Mexican immigrant and as Mexican American.”

Seth Schermerhorn

Board of Directors, vice president

Seth is Associate Professor & Director of American Studies at Hamilton College. He is the author of Walking to Magdalena: Personhood and Place in Tohono O’odham Songs, Sticks, and Stories, which was co-published by the University of Nebraska Press and the American Philosophical Society in 2019. He is also the co-editor of Movement and Indigenous Religions, which was published by Routledge in 2024. He is the founding editor of Indigenous Religious Traditions.

“I started working with BCA in 2019 as a consultant as BCA was making Pilgrimage to Magdalena, an award-winning film that is, hands down, the best and single most accessible introduction to the Magdalena pilgrimage. It’s been a wonderful experience and I’m honored to become more deeply involved in BCA’s work as a board member.

Anna Schirripa

board of directors

I was born and raised in Tucson, Arizona, and now live in midtown Phoenix with my husband and son. A proud graduate of the University of Arizona, I began my career in corporate Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and sustainability, working with a major hospitality group and a national pet retailer. My deep connection to the desert and borderlands comes from my mother’s lifelong humanitarian work, which has shaped my values and commitment to equity and community care.

I am honored to contribute my experience and perspective to help strengthen community ties and expand BCA’s reach and impact across the borderlands. It’s a privilege to serve on the BCA board and give back to the region that has shaped who I am.