About
Advisory Board
Tom Carroll - President, Carroll Strategies
Communications Strategy
Tom Carroll has over twenty years of experience in corporate communications, public relations, advertising, government relations, and political consulting. He has provided corporations, governments, businesses and non-profits with high level strategic counsel, message development, and planning expertise since 1985. As a strategic counselor, he has provided media relations expertise for Fortune 500 companies as well as business startups. His specialties include strategic planning, crisis communications, media relations, advertising concepts, public affairs, and advocacy campaigns. Tom served as Deputy Political Director for then-Speaker of the Assembly Willie L. Brown, Jr. (later Mayor of San Francisco) and Chief of Staff in the California Assembly, spending eight years (1984-92) in the California legislature developing political programs and major legislation, including the 1989 Ethics Act and the 1988 Oil Spill Cleanup Act.
Tom's company, Tom Carroll Campaigns, has worked on over 150 political campaigns, with a win record over 80% in campaigns from California to New Mexico, including Albuquerque Mayor's 1993 upset in the mayor's race and the turnaround 2004 Albuquerque Bond Election on Paseo Del Norte.
In 2005, Tom took over as President of DWTurner and turned it into the state's largest public relations company, growing the company to the number one ranking within one year and keeping it there for three consecutive years. As President, he oversaw corporate accounts such as Wal-Mart, BP, Thornburg Companies, Chevron Mining, NM Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources, NM Dental Association, Akal Security, and dozens of others.
In the advertising realm, Tom supervised the creative team on accounts such as CNM (Central New Mexico Community College), Mark Pardo Salon, Rancho Viejo development in Santa Fe, MyBank, and many others.
Tom now serves as President of Carroll Strategies LLC, which provides higher level strategic counsel, creative solutions, and an unmatched level of service for clients. He has achieved the designation of APR (Accredited in Public Relations), the highest rank given out by the Public Relations Society of America.
Tom lives in Santa Fe with his wife Sheri, a preschool teacher, and his three daughters. He is a novelist, having published "The Colony" in 2001; an actor who appeared in David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross in Santa Fe last spring; and a screenwriter whose latest effort, "Baca Street" was accepted by the New Mexico Film Commission in 2004. He is an avid swimmer, skier, golfer, and still an occasional hockey player.
Michael E. Skaggs - Executive Director, Nevada Commission on Economic Development.
Growth Strategy
Mike Skaggs is a veteran marketing executive with an emphasis on economic development marketing and technology enterprise.
In 2008, Skaggs was appointed by Governor Jim Gibbons to lead the Nevada Commission on Economic Development, which is the agency responsible for developing and executing the economic strategy to diversify the Nevada Economy. He was recently elected as a member of the Executive Committee of the Nevada Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology and is an advocate of innovation-based economic development.
Previously, Skaggs was President and CEO of the Next Generation Economy in Albuquerque and led the region's efforts to create entrepreneurial infrastructure for the region's technology and artisan industries. During Skaggs tenure, author Richard Florida proclaimed Albuquerque as the Number One Creative Community in the United State for cities in the 500,000-person population category in his best seller, Rise of the Creative Class.
As an entrepreneur and consultant, Skaggs crafted economic strategies for Arizona, Utah, Oregon, Northern California, Oklahoma, North Texas, and British Columbia. He has developed specific target growth clusters for Albuquerque, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Reno, Contra Costa County, California, and Portland.
Mike continues to emphasize the role of the individual entrepreneur who has developed a solution for a global market issue to be the key ingredient in any economic development strategy and is an advocate for entrepreneurship. He has presented to national audiences on behalf of the State Science and Technology Institute, the Council on Competitiveness, and the U.S. Department of Commerce.
He and his family reside in the Carson City, Nevada area.
Dr. Douglas E. Thomas - Assistant Dean, Anderson School of Management, University of New Mexico
Startup Strategy
Doug Thomas is Associate Professor of Management at ASM (and holds the ASM Alumni Endowed Professorship) and earned his PhD in Strategic Management from Texas A&M University. He currently serves as Assistant Dean at ASM.
He holds a BA in economics from BYU, where he also has served as a visiting lecturer at the Marriott School of Management. In addition he has taught strategy and international business courses at Texas A&M University and the University of Texas at San Antonio. He is fluent in Spanish and previously worked as an internal consultant to American Express in Mexico City. He has published or forthcoming articles on strategy in Management International Review, Journal of World Business, Journal of Business Research, International Journal of Management, Journal of International Management, Journal of Managerial Issues, as well as several other outlets.
While at ASM, he has consulted for a variety of organizations including start-ups, non-profits and governmental agencies. He is co-owner and co-founder of Pastorero Taco Grill a new Mexico City based quick casual taqueria with locations in 3 states.