Two Very Special Behind-the-Scenes Mountain Movers

July 10, 2019

It is with the highest honor that College of Adaptive Arts introduces to you two integral Mountain Movers that work tirelessly behind the scenes to grow this innovative collegiate model: Richard Hermerding and Bobbi Tafoya.


Richard joined CAA in 2014 as their part-time CFO. He helped get all finances streamlined into Quickbooks and helped guide the organization to use monthly financial statements to grow strategically and prudently. He was the first to catch that CAA’s information had been compromised during the big Target breach many years ago. He has helped ensure we all know about depreciation and journal entries of logging gift cards. He attends each board meeting and has been a steadfast rock of strategic guidance and oversight. Since Richard has joined the Mountain Movers leadership team, CAA’s operational budget has more than doubled, and striving for financial health and sustainability is at the forefront of the Mountain Mover Leadership Team’s mindset.


Bobbi Tafoya is CAA’s monthly bookkeeper and Regional Center invoicing lead. She helps to code each and every transaction to the correct chart of account code, and she runs the monthly board reports in a timely and professional fashion. She is the one who also inputs attendance each month to the Regional Center portals for processing. She meticulously keeps track of how many units are left on each student’s Purchase of Service (POS), and she works professional with the Regional Centers to support the over 100+ students who now have their tuition covered each quarter by the Regional Centers.


These 2 CAA unsung heroes are gracious, professional, and diligently work behind the scenes to support and grow this innovative, lifelong collegiate model of education. They are both fully committed to helping to bring this model to full fruition so that it can replicate and sustain and being as robust and accessible to adults for education that Special Olympics provides for adults who want to keep participating in athletics.


These 2 leaders never ask for any credit, are never in the limelight, and are so very essential to the financial and procedural growth of College of Adaptive Arts. To Richard Hermerding & Bobbi Tafoya, College of Adaptive Arts Salutes and Honors you today and everyday as true Movers of the Mountain to illuminating and cultivating the authentic abilities of adult learners of all ages and abilities.

Bobbi Tafoya

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