Ian Mentken, Founder, Executive Director
Inspired by his mother's struggles as a homeless woman on the streets of New York City, Ian has been a fierce advocate for the unhoused for most of his adult life. In addition to iMBY, Ian is also developing The Mobile Sanctuary, designed to provide the dignity of privacy and personal space to those experiencing homelessness. Prior to iMBY, Ian used music for social change via his organization mim.fm. Through mim.fm, Ian partnered with multiple local organizations, including the Sierra Club, Olé, Barret House, and Family Promise, to raise awareness about, and revenue for, key social issues such as environmental preservation, veterans issues, and homelessness.
Ian currently chairs the Housing and Homelessness Committee on the Near North Valley Neighborhood Association.
Moises Gonzalez, Board Member
Moisés A. González is a Cuban-American documentary filmmaker originally from San Antonio Texas. Moises centered housing and homelessness in his recent run for Albuquerque City Council. He focused on addressing the underlying societal roots of homelessness, such as poverty, rather than stigmatizing the unhoused. Recognizing that homelessness is predominantly a housing problem, he advocated for Housing First, a housing model that eliminates the traditional barriers to housing based on the understanding that being stably housed is a prerequisite for mental and physical health, getting and maintaining employment, and overall wellbeing.
In addition to iMBY, Moises is currently on the Board of Amparo New Mexico, a nonprofit organization that provides financial assistance to families of school-aged children in Bernalillo County who are facing eviction and homelessness.
Quapaw McKibben, Board Member
Quapaw is a volunteer worker and community organizer. He currently cooks for the Peace Café at the Albuquerque Center for Peace and Justice and helps feed people with the John Brown Breakfast Club. A member of the Quapaw tribe of Oklahoma, David grew up on the Navajo Nation and spent summers volunteering at his grandmother's food pantry. Both of these experiences helped strengthen his desire to have a positive impact on his community and the people in need. David found out the impact of a positive community for the unsheltered while being homeless himself. He wants to keep working until we build a better community for us all.
Rosemary Blanchard, Advisor
Rosemary has had a decades-long personal and professional focus on universal human rights, international humanitarian law, Indigenous education and American social studies. Her professional experience includes being Founding Chair of the Human Rights Education Community of the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) (2013-2019). She has also been a Policy Analyst in the Navajo Nation's Education Division (1982-1988), Dean of Instruction at the Crownpoint Institute (2004-2006), and Consultant in Navajo Education, and is an Associate Professor of Education Emeritus from Cal State at Sacramento (having retired in 2012). She is a Research Lecturer III in Peace Studies at UNM. She currently serves as a Southwest Regional liaison for Human Rights Educators USA and is a member of the Corporation of the American Friends Service Committee.
Rosemary has an enduring interest in building a community that is accessible and in which everyone is welcome and their humanity respected.