Sandra Watson

Sandra Watson is an economic development professional with 28 years of leadership experience in business attraction and expansion, innovation, entrepreneurship, economic policy and workforce development. She and her teams have worked with more than 1,113 companies committed to creating more than 247,000 quality jobs and investing more than $105 billion in capital in the state.

Currently, Ms. Watson serves as the President & CEO of the Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA), a public-private partnership that leads statewide economic development. The unique structure of the ACA brings together leaders from private industry, academia and all three branches of state government. She also oversees the Workforce Arizona Council and Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity, a data-driven team focused on economic and labor market analysis. In addition to leading the ACA and serving on its Board of Directors, Ms. Watson serves on Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs’ leadership team as her Senior Economic Policy Advisor.

Ms. Watson serves as a founding member and the Chair of the State Economic Development Executives Network board. She is also a member of the National State Science and Technology Institute Board of Trustees and the Make-A-Wish Foundation Arizona Board of Directors. She is also a founding partner on the Institute for Automated Mobility Board of Directors.