Board of Directors

Robert Richards, Esq., President

Mr. Richards is a solo practitioner who works and resides in Santa Fe, New Mexico and is also a National Certified Guardian. He was the former general counsel for the New Mexico Developmental Disabilities Planning Council, Office of Guardianship. Mr. Richards' duties with that agency varied, but included at one time or another representing the agency in legal matters, contract review, supervising and assigning attorneys for guardianship proceedings, petitioning for guardianship, acting as guardian ad litem, drafting regulations for the agency and working to find better ways to serve the indigent incapacitated person in New Mexico. He was also an active participant in the New Mexico Guardianship Task Force in 2007 and 2008, and served on the committee that drafted proposed changes to the Probate Code and Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code that were adopted by the state legislature in 2009. Mr. Richards earned his J.D. degree at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York City. He has practiced law in New Mexico for over 20 years.

Jan S. Olsen, Treasurer

Ms. Olsen is a gerontologist with 20 years' experience assisting elderly and disabled clients and their family caregivers with accessing and understanding the available resources in their communities in order to enhance the quality of life for all family members. She has been a professional court visitor in guardianship and conservatorship cases for vulnerable adults since 1999 and has served as auditor of guardianship court case files. Ms. Olsen founded a multi-disciplinary Case Management Alliance for elderly clients and has trained elderly volunteers in many rural communities to help elderly citizens understand the complexities of health insurance and benefit programs in the State of New Mexico. She is currently a self-employed consultant on all aspects of aging, including housing, entitlements, psychosocial issues, long term care funding and community resources.

Kate Fitz Gibbon

Ms. Fitz Gibbon is a practicing attorney in Santa Fe, in the fields of art and cultural heritage law, trusts, and estate planning. Fitz Gibbon’s professional work includes acting as petitioning attorney and guardian ad litem in guardianship matters. She also works as a volunteer attorney for Law Access New Mexico and the State Bar of New Mexico Law Referral for the Elderly. Kate serves on the board of non-profits New Mexico Lawyers for the Arts, the Cultural Policy Research Institute, the Antique Tribal Art Dealers Association, and the ATADA Foundation. She was a member of the Cultural Property Advisory Committee to Presidents Clinton and Bush. She is editor of Who Owns the Past? Cultural Property, Cultural Policy and the Law, Rutgers University Press, 2005 and author of Native American Art and the Law: A Collector’s Guide, 2010.

Staff Members

Janice N. Ladnier, Executive Director of Guardianship Alliance New Mexico

Janice is a is a National Master Guardian and a professional court-appointed guardian and conservator, a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC), and a geriatric care manager in Santa Fe. She serves as legal guardian, conservator or power of attorney for incapacitated adults in Northern New Mexico, and is also an experienced court visitor. Janice was an active participant in the New Mexico Guardianship Task Force in 2007 and 2008, and she proposed most of the changes to the Probate Code and Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code that were adopted by the state legislature in 2009. For over 25 years Janice worked as a paralegal in several states, primarily in the areas of estate planning and probate law. She has a strong background in patient rights and advocacy and was formerly an Ombudsman with the New Mexico Aging and Long Term Services Department. Janice presents seminars on incapacity and guardianship for guardians, legal professionals, counselors, social workers, case managers and other professionals who provide services to people who have or may need guardians.

Angela T. Melton, Financial Director

Angela is the Financial Director of Guardianship Alliance New Mexico and is an experienced national certified guardian, geriatric care manager and power of attorney in the Albuquerque and Santa Fe areas. She is also a skilled bookkeeper and office manager. Angela has extensive experience working with interdisciplinary teams (IDTs), especially in cases involving the Developmental Disabilities Waiver (DD Waiver). She was also an active participant in the New Mexico Guardianship Task Force in 2007 and 2008, and served on the committee that drafted proposed changes to the Probate Code and Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code that were adopted by the state legislature in 2009.