Connie Burke, Board Chair
Connie’s career experience includes over 30 years in administration and management. She began her career as a technical writer for the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation and worked as a forestry technician for the U. S. Forest Service. Upon completing graduate school, she became a legal assistant in environmental law and rose through the ranks to the position of Director of Administration/CEO for Vinson & Elkins, an international law firm based in Houston, Texas. She then served as the Master of Lovett College, Rice University, Executive Director of Leadership Rice and Assistant to the Board of Trustees at Rice University in Houston, Texas. Connie went on to become Office Administrator for Bracewell L.L.P., managing the daily operations of their regional office in Washington, D.C. before retiring to Santa Fe with her husband in 2012. She came out of retirement and served as the Interim Executive Director for the International Folk Art Alliance (IFAA) August 2014 and served in that capacity until March of 2015. She then served as the Chief of Staff to the new CEO until August 2015, coordinating the 2015 International Folk Art Market | Santa Fe.
She holds a B. S. in Geology from California State University, Long Beach and an M. S. in Forestry/Natural Resource Management from Oregon State University.
She has served in a variety of chair positions for the International Folk Art Market and she is the chair of the docent council at the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. In addition, she volunteers at the Sweetheart Auction, the Wine and Chile Festival, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival and Girls, Inc.