Talent Development supports UNM faculty, and staff by creating high quality learning experiences that build skills, strengthen teams, and prepare future leaders.
We partner with individuals and departments to help the UNM community grow, adapt, and thrive in an evolving higher education environment.
At UNM, people are our greatest asset. Talent Development’s purpose is to cultivate those talents through impactful learning programs, personalized coaching, and team development solutions that help employees excel in their roles and contribute to a healthy, high performing university community.
Manager, Talent Development
Dr. Bonnie Minkus-Holmes is the Manager of Talent Development at UNM. A native of Chicago, she moved to New Mexico in 2003 to pursue her PhD in Education. Her research took her to Sub Saharan West Africa and Paris. Bonnie has published several articles on Paolo Freire and Literacy at UNESCO as well as presented at Oxford several times. Bonnie worked for almost 15 years in the private sector for an Organizational Development Consultant before joining the team at EOD. Bonnie uses a strengths-based approach in her coaching, leadership development and change management programs throughout the University. Bonnie has also led major strategic planning efforts for the College of Law, CFA, Harwood Art Museum, CEEO and others. Bonnie also has her M.S. Ed in Education from Hunter College in New York City and an M.S. in Japanese language from Keio University in Tokyo.
Talent Development Consultant
Cynthia Pérez-Chávez, MA, CPTM, is an Talent Development Consultant. She started her career at UNM almost 20 years ago while performing different positions. Cynthia has served and represented the UNM community in organizations such as Administrative Support Alliance, Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education, and Staff Council. She holds a Master of Arts in Organization, Information, and Learning Sciences (OILS), a bachelor’s degree in Psychology, and a Mediation Certification, all of them from UNM. She is also a Certified Professional in Training Management, a Development Dimensions International (DDI) certified facilitator, and a qualified English-Spanish interpreter. As a consultant, she takes the time to listen and understand clients to assess their unique professional development needs. She enjoys interacting with others during facilitations since she thinks that it is the best way to learn from each other’s experiences. Cynthia also enjoys helping others to reach out their professional and personal goals. As a lifelong learner, Cynthia constantly pursues professional development opportunities to improve her knowledge and skills. She also likes to learn about new and interesting topics related to communication, employee engagement, talent development, and professional growth, which she eventually shares with others. She is originally from Mexico and enjoys traveling with her family to experience new places and cultures.
Senior Training & Development Consultant
Bryan O’Neill, M.A. is a Senior Technical Training Consultant with Talent Development. He has worked for UNM the past 7 years. His background is in technology and support and has a bachelor’s degree in Media Arts and masters in Instructional Design, both from UNM. Bryan joined the Talent Development team in 2018 and is responsible for various technology needs within the department. Bryan also researches best practices and new technologies to deliver the best product to the UNM community.
Training & Development Consultant
We are reintroducing Jorge to the University of New Mexico family and to the Talent Development team. Jorge has a B.A. from UNM with a concentration in Linguistics. Previously worked with the Talent Development team for 4 years and completed multiple facilitations in both in person and virtually. He has worked with the State of New Mexico for over 7 years in Facilitating, eLearning instructional design and Instructional development. This experience will allow him to support the UNM family. As part of the Talent Development team, he is progressive, collaborative and customer focused. Jorge is also a DDI certified facilitator.
Training & Development Consultant
Oceana (OC) Black Elk is Talent Development's Operations Specialist. She received her B.S. in Biological Anthropology and Psychology from UNM in 2012, as well as her Executive MBA in 2023. She has utilized her flexibility working in a wide variety of industries but has always managed to find her way into an operations-based position. She jokes that she's in the business of getting things done right and loves creating SOPs to ensure proper execution of tasks. OC manages the Career Pathways program and is the point of contact for PEP and probation review questions/issues. She also assists with Learning Central-related inquiries and provides additional support to the Talent Development team as needed.
