Flinn Foundation program selects 28 Arizona civic leaders
The Arizona Center for Civic Leadership at the Flinn
Foundation’s leadership program—dedicated to state-level policy and
politics and forging professional connections—has selected 28
Arizonans as 2024 Flinn-Brown Fellows.
The 16th cohort of the nonpartisan Flinn-Brown Fellowship
includes leaders from the private and public sector, elected
officials, founders of nonprofit organizations and companies,
physicians, lawyers, educators and more.
“We are delighted to introduce a new group of Arizona civic
leaders of many political perspectives, life experiences, and
career paths to the Flinn-Brown experience,” said Dawn Wallace,
Flinn Foundation vice president, civic leadership. “As part of the
Fellowship, these leaders develop the connections necessary to make
an even greater impact in their communities, while joining a
powerful network determined to work together to address statewide
public policy issues.”
The 2024 Fellows will participate in the fall Flinn-Brown
Academy, an intensive public policy institute, which begins with
the Aug. 16 Flinn-Brown Convention. All 465 Flinn-Brown Fellows are
invited to “Collaboration: A Network That Invokes Change,” a
full-day professional-development and networking opportunity in
downtown Phoenix.
The first of 12 Flinn-Brown Academy sessions will begin the
following week. The topics range from public finance and
infrastructure to criminal justice and human services. The focus of
the interactive all-day sessions is on policy, politics, and the
sharing of key perspectives on solutions to Arizona’s pressing
challenges from top elected and appointed officials and
subject-matter experts.
In addition to being policy facilitators for each Academy day,
Stan Barnes of Copper State Consulting Group and South Mountain
Justice of the Peace Rebecca Rios, both respected former
legislators, will provide different political perspectives for
discussion. Elected and appointed officials, executives, judges,
scholars, and additional experts are called upon as well.
The Fellows, who are selected through a competitive process,
represent nine of Arizona’s counties: Cochise, Coconino, Graham,
Maricopa, Mohave, Pima, Pinal, Yavapai, and Yuma. The 2024 class is
evenly divided between Maricopa County and cities and towns outside
the Phoenix metro area, including Benson, Camp Verde, Flagstaff,
Florence, Lake Havasu City, Safford, Tucson, and Yuma.
The 2024 Flinn-Brown Fellows, including positions, cities, and
counties of residence, are:
- Carlos Alfaro: Southwest Director, Alder, Scottsdale,
Maricopa County
- The Honorable Austin Aslan: Vice Mayor,
City of Flagstaff, Flagstaff, Coconino County
- Michelle Beaver: Founder and Director, PEN
Arizona, Phoenix, Maricopa County
- The Honorable Deborah Begay, J.D.:
Justice of the Peace, Maricopa County Justice Courts, Phoenix,
Maricopa County
- Vance Bryce: Executive Director, Graham County
Chamber of Commerce, Safford, Graham County
- Tina Dorsey: Vice President, Commercial Banking,
First Citizens Bank, Tucson, Pima County
- Manuel Felix: Founder & CEO, AZ Cyber
Initiative, Tucson, Pima County
- Bridget Fitzgibbons, N.M.D.: Physician,
Private Practice, Mesa, Maricopa County
- Lloyd Hopkins II: Founder and Executive Director,
Million Dollar Teacher Project, Phoenix, Maricopa County
- Steve King: Retired Superintendent, Cottonwood-Oak Creek
School District, Camp Verde, Yavapai County
- The Honorable Alexa Lucchese: Government Affairs
Manager, Cox Communications, Tucson, Pima County
- The Honorable Lori Matthews: Councilmember, City of
Flagstaff, Flagstaff, Coconino County
- Rebecca McKay: Data Science Specialist Principal, ASU
Helios Decision Center, Phoenix, Maricopa County
- T.J. Mitchell, J.D.: Chief of Staff, Supervisor Bill
Gates, Maricopa County, Phoenix, Maricopa County
- The Honorable Cameron Moses: Vice Mayor, Lake Havasu
City; Owner/General Manager, Cha-Bones Steakhouse; Lake Havasu
City, Mohave County
- Allison Otu: Executive Director, Marketing and
Communications, Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, Arizona State
University, Phoenix, Maricopa County
- Jennifer Richards, Ph.D.: Assistant Professor, Johns
Hopkins University, Center for Indigenous Health, Flagstaff,
Coconino County
- Vanessa Ruiz: Deputy Vice President, Educational
Outreach and Student Services, Arizona State University, Phoenix,
Maricopa County
- Rodney Short, J.D.: Deputy City Attorney, City of Yuma,
Yuma, Yuma County
- Stephanie Soto: Director of Operations, Arizona Hispanic
Chamber of Commerce, Phoenix, Maricopa County
- Robert “Nick” Staab, M.D.: Assistant Medical Director,
Maricopa County Department of Public Health, Phoenix, Maricopa
County
- Emily Steiner, J.D.: Deputy General Counsel, Arizona
Department of Child Safety, Phoenix, Maricopa County
- Lorraine Stofft: Vice President for Advancement and
Executive Director of the AWC Foundation, Arizona Western College,
Yuma, Yuma County
- Javier Torres, J.D.: Assistant United States Attorney,
U.S. Department of Justice, United States Attorney's Office,
District of Arizona, Phoenix, Maricopa County
- The Honorable Tara Walter: Mayor, Town of Florence;
Assistant Principal, Florence Unified School District; Florence,
Pinal County
- Judah Waxelbaum: Chief Legislative Liaison, Water
Infrastructure Finance Authority of Arizona, Scottsdale, Maricopa
County
- Erica Yngve: President/Owner Sonoran Stitch Factory;
President/Owner, Postcraft Products, Tucson, Pima County
- Jason Zibart: Community Connected Health Manager, Benson
Hospital, Benson, Cochise County
The Fellows selected for the program were interviewed at the
Flinn Foundation by a selection committee of Arizona leaders that
included:
- Paul Brierley: CEO & EDD, Arizona Department of
Agriculture, 2011 Flinn-Brown Fellow;
- Richard Caselli, M.D.: Member, Flinn Foundation Board of
Directors;
- Bobbie Schorr: Grants Director, Thomas R. Brown Family
Private Foundation;
- Clint Bolick: Justice, Arizona Supreme Court;
- Vada Manager: CEO & President, Manager Global
Holdings LLC;
- Dede Yazzie Devine: former CEO, Native American
Connections; and
- Christy Burton: Co-founder and Chair, Burton Family
Foundation
The Flinn Foundation launched the Arizona Center for Civic
Leadership in 2011 to develop a statewide network of civic leaders
seeking solutions to Arizona’s long-term issues. The Flinn-Brown
Network now includes 465 Fellows from rural, urban, and tribal
communities.
“The leaders we have selected for Flinn-Brown this year are
playing important roles in areas that must be successful and
collaborative for the future health and prosperity of
Arizona—health care, entrepreneurship, public health, K-12
education, business, nonprofits, our universities and government,
to name a few,” said Tammy McLeod, Ph.D., Flinn Foundation
president and CEO. “We believe these 28 Arizonans will emerge from
the Flinn-Brown Fellowship even more knowledgeable about the inner
workings of Arizona and with the skills and dedication needed to
advance our state.”
Meet the 2024 Flinn-Brown Fellows
About the Flinn Foundation
The Flinn Foundation is a Phoenix-based private,
nonprofit, grantmaking organization, founded by Dr. Robert S. Flinn
and Irene P. Flinn in 1965 with a mission to improve the quality of
life in Arizona to benefit future generations. In addition to the
Arizona Center for Civic Leadership, the foundation supports
the advancement of Arizona’s bioscience ecosystem, the Flinn
Scholars Program, and Arizona’s arts and culture sector.
About the Arizona Center for Civic Leadership
The nonpartisan Arizona Center for Civic Leadership at the Flinn
Foundation enhances civic life in Arizona through civic education,
engagement, and leadership-development programs. In addition to the
Flinn-Brown Fellowship, Flinn Young Leaders emphasizes civic
learning and skill-building and helps teens imagine paths to making
a difference. CivEx delivers educational programming for the public
to become better-informed on Arizona policy and political topics.
The Civic Leadership Collaborative and the Arizona Civic Life
Partnership convene organizations that strengthen civic
participation and connected communities to effective civic
leadership—and our broader prosperity and quality of life.
About the Thomas R. Brown Family Private Foundation
The Thomas R. Brown Family Private Foundation of Tucson
is a partner in the Flinn-Brown program. It supports solutions to
community and state issues through grants and educational programs
in the areas of research and education, workforce development,
civic leadership, and economics education.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240515667979/en/
Brian Powell, Flinn Foundation Communications Manager,
602-744-6806, bpowell@flinn.org
Dawn Wallace, Flinn Foundation Vice President, Civic Leadership,
480-326-1628, dwallace@flinn.org