Leadership Los Alamos Board Chair Carmen Kramer during an interview Friday in the newsroom at the Los Alamos Daily Post on Central Avenue. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com
By CAROL A. CLARK
Los Alamos Daily Post
caclark@ladailypost.com
(Sponsored content)
Carmen Kramer was elected Chair of the Board of Directors for Leadership Los Alamos (LLA) and took that role on in June. She recently spoke to the Los Alamos Daily Post about her experience with the organization and the importance of community service.
“I had lived here for 10 years and thought I knew so much about the community until I became involved in Leadership Los Alamos,” she said. “Since, I learned so much about the culture, education, local government and the many different organizations we have here that I didn’t realize existed. Now, I am now hoping as board chair to pass that knowledge on to our new LLA program cohort that begins in August.”
Kramer went to work at Los Alamos National Bank in 2013 as an electronic banking specialist. She was promoted to payment manager handling all electronic payments including wires and ACHs. In 2019 the Los Alamos National Bank merger occurred with Enterprise Bank & Trust and she became a support specialist and in 2021 a treasury management officer.
“The greatest part of my job had always been interacting with the community … when you live and work in a small town that means a lot,” Kramer said. “One of my favorite memories is participating in the annual Holiday Lights Parade for the bank. I would bring my kids and we would hand out candy … it was really fun for us and also for all the kids getting the candy.”
Kramer accepted a position last month as an operations support specialist at Los Alamos National Laboratory, but during her recent interview with the Post commended her former bank co-workers for participating in local organizations and events and the bank for encouraging and supporting them.
“Enterprise advocates and encourages us to be involved in the community and they support so many events and organizations,” she said. “I applied to participate in the annual Leadership Los Alamos program in 2022 and the bank fully supported my participation and paid my tuition. I graduated in 2023 and joined the board with full support from our local Enterprise Bank President Liddie Martinez. Liddie and the bank also provided scholarships and lunches for LLA program participants.
Martinez spoke about why the bank has been a longtime supporter of Leadership Los Alamos.
“Leadership Los Alamos has been a wonderful partner. It is great to see emerging leaders engaged in learning about the individual elements that form our society and connections to each other,” Martinez said. “The relationships they are building now will be the critical connections they will lean on as leaders.”
Kramer explained that the LLA mission is to develop and empower a diverse network of current and emerging leaders within the Los Alamos community. LLA achieves this by providing experiential learning opportunities to observe, discuss, and act on leadership principles, foster self-awareness and effective communication skills, cultivate collaborative teamwork, and instill the values of servant leadership and community engagement.
“LLA’s goal is to strengthen workplace culture and equip individuals with the tools to make a lasting, positive impact on our shared home,” Kramer said.
The LLA Board has extended the deadline to July 31 for applications for the 2026-2027 program year, which runs from August 2026 to April 2027. Program information can be found on the LLA website along with the program and scholarship application forms at https://www.leadershiplosalamos.org/apply. Applications can be completed on the LLA website.
For more information on Leadership Los Alamos, visit leadershiplosalamos.org. To learn more about the program and for LLA alumni interested in joining the all-volunteer board, contact LLA at leadershiplosalamos.org/contact-us.
Editor’s note: Carol A. Clark is a graduate of the 2008 LLA program and served on the board of directors.
