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Silicon Valley Entrepreneurs, Veteran Banker, Foundation Expert, Intel Executive and Attorney Join Board


ACCION New Mexico Board of Directors Chairman John Carey is welcoming the talents of some of the state’s brightest visionaries to the nonprofit small business lender’s board.

Carey, the outgoing president and chief executive officer of the Association of Commerce and Industry of New Mexico (ACI), is serving as chairman of ACCION’s governing body in 2007 and 2008. He announces the following new additions to the board in 2007 -- renowned software entrepreneurs and authors Farzad and Rhonda Dibachi, First Community Bank’s regional president for southern New Mexico and Arizona, Jed Fanning, former Albuquerque Community Foundation Executive Director Laura Hueter Bass, Intel’s Technology and Manufacturing Group vice president and director of corporate services, Bruce Leising, and attorney Lorna Wiggins, president of Wiggins, Williams & Wiggins P.C.

These outstanding leaders in technology, finance, philanthropy and law are among a 30-member group that guides ACCION in fulfilling its community and economic development mission throughout New Mexico.

“We are so pleased to bring the talent and energy of these exciting and visionary members to the ACCION Board of Directors,” Carey said. “Together, the Dibachis, Jed, Bruce, Laura, and Lorna are an inspiring example of the kind of leadership New Mexico cultivates in its citizens. While they represent such a diverse range of experience and expertise, they share a sincere belief in the power of our state’s small business owners to make our communities better – one family at a time.”

The Dibachis are experienced entrepreneurs and seasoned Silicon Valley executives with a successful history of launching innovative products and companies. Most recently, Farzad and Rhonda co-founded Niku, a publicly traded (NASDAQ) software company. Farzad served as the company’s CEO and chairman of the Board of Directors while Rhonda served as vice president of development and executive vice president of planning and strategy. Prior to that, Farzad was a co-founder, president and CEO of Diba, an information appliance software company sold to Sun Microsystems. He also served as senior vice president, New Media Division for Oracle. Rhonda’s career includes leadership positions at Webvan, an Internet-based grocery retailer, Oracle Corporation and Arthur Young (now Ernst and Young). Rhonda and Farzad co-authored the book Just Add Management (McGraw-Hill, 2002).

Jed Fanning is a native of New Mexico who began his career in banking in 1985 at Texas Commerce Bank in El Paso. After being named Wells Fargo Community Bank President for Las Cruces in 1999, Jed moved to Albuquerque and became regional president for Wells Fargo’s greater New Mexico region. Jed joined First Community Bank in 2005 as regional president for southern New Mexico and Arizona. His community involvement has included his past chairmanship of the board for Leadership New Mexico and work with New Mexico State University Foundation, the NMSU College of Business Advisory Council, the New Mexico Small Business Development Centers advisory council, the Memorial Medical Center Foundation Las Cruces, the Rotary Club of Las Cruces, the NMSU Alumni Executive Council and Goodwill Industries of Southern New Mexico. He is chair-elect for the Governor’s Business Executives for Education.

Laura Hueter Bass is an award-winning fundraiser and native of Albuquerque who chairs ACCION’s Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership Program (WELead), which connects ACCION’s women entrepreneurs with successful women mentors in the community. She served as executive director of the Albuquerque Community Foundation for 15 years, retiring in April 2006. While at Albuquerque Community Foundation, Laura founded seven charitable giving programs and increased the endowment from $5 million to $42 million. Laura has also served as president of the boards of Presbyterian Healthcare Foundation and the UNM Alumni Associations as well as serving on the board of directors for the University of New Mexico Foundation and as Chair of the Board of the Central New Mexico Affiliate of the Susan B. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Laura is a member of the United Way Women in Philanthropy Council and the UNM Regents Development Committee.

Bruce Leising is an award-winning executive, serving as vice president of the Technology and Manufacturing Group and director of corporate services at Intel. With Intel since 1979, Bruce took an assignment overseas in 1990 for Intel’s Ireland Fab start-up as the Fab 10 plant manager. In 1998, Bruce became general manager of Fab/Sort Manufacturing, responsible for Intel’s leading edge Microprocessor Fabs and for the 300mm wafer conversion in manufacturing. Bruce was named director of corporate services in 2004, overseeing Intel’s worldwide responsibilities for facility construction, site facility sustaining, environmental health and safety, corporate real estate and public affairs.

Lorna M. Wiggins is president of the law firm of Wiggins, Williams & Wiggins, P.C. Her primary areas of practice have been labor and employment law since 1983, when she started her law career in New Mexico following a judicial clerkship with the North Dakota Supreme Court. Lorna has served on the boards of directors for the YWCA of the Middle Rio Grande, the Junior League of Albuquerque, the Association of Junior Leagues International, the Albuquerque Aquarium and Rio Grande Botanic Garden and WESST Corp.