PHOENIX (January 16, 2019) — The Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry is pleased to announce that Mara Mellstrom will serve as the Chamber’s new director of public affairs. In this role, Ms. Mellstrom will oversee the Chamber’s policy and political campaign-related efforts, serving as the lead on the Chamber’s issue advocacy campaigns and election year activities.
Before joining the Chamber, Ms. Mellstrom led the successful defeat of Proposition 205, which sought to legalize marijuana, and she helped to secure passage of Proposition 123, which is injecting $3.5 billion into the state’s K-12 system over a 10-year period.
She most recently worked to re-elect Governor Doug Ducey as his campaign’s policy director and served in Gov. Ducey’s administration as regulatory affairs policy adviser.
Before moving to Arizona, Ms. Mellstrom worked at the Foundation for Government Accountability as the nonprofit’s legislative manager, ushering key reform efforts through state legislatures throughout the country. She also worked on political campaigns including those of presidential candidate Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown.
“Mara brings to our team at the Chamber a strong mix of policy expertise and campaign experience,” Arizona Chamber President and CEO Glenn Hamer said. “Her experience is particularly valuable as activists will continue to view our initiative process as a means to advance policies via the ballot box that could harm the state. The Chamber in 2019—like we do every year—is taking on challenging issues ranging from water to education to taxation. With Mara at the Chamber, we continue to strengthen our advocacy on behalf of Arizona’s job creators.”
“I am very excited to join the team at the Chamber. I look forward to working with the Chamber’s diverse membership of business leaders. Their input and support will prove critical in designing our strategy to continue enhancing our state’s economic competitiveness, protecting and growing our high-quality schools, and positioning our state for continued job growth and success,” Ms. Mellstrom said.
