First Place AZ, a local non-profit working to ensure that housing options for people with autism and other special abilities are as bountiful as they are for anyone else, elected its new Board officers and a new Board member.

First Place is advancing new residential options for adults with autism and related disorders, and is underway on First Place-Phoenix, a transit-oriented property sited in the heart of the city at 3rd Street and Catalina. Groundbreaking is expected in 2016.

First Place AZ Board of Directors’ new officers include:

  • Sara Dial, board chair; president and CEO, Sara Dial & Associates
  • Nancy White, vice chair; partner, Steptoe & Johnson
  • Joe Cooper, treasurer; business consultant and Former NYSE Company executive
  • Tess Burleson, secretary; chief operating officer of the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and president of TGen Health Ventures

Jack Henry, founder and managing director of Sierra Blanca Ventures, LLC, has also been elected to join the board.

He has served as a member of the TPI Composites Board of Directors since 2008. Henry also currently serves on the Board of Directors and chairs the audit committee of Grand Canyon Education as well as the boards of directors and audit committees of several private companies.

He is President of the Arizona Chapter of the National Association of Corporate Directors. From 1966 to 2000, Henry worked as a certified public accountant for national accounting firm Arthur Andersen. He retired in 2000 as Managing Partner of the Phoenix office. Henry received a Bachelor of Business Administration and M.B.A. from the University of Michigan.

Other board members include: Rob Leinbach, the former president and COO of Walton Global Holdings, and Denise D. Resnik, First Place AZ founder and president/CEO.