Az Business and AZRE magazines announced the publications’ lists of the Most Influential Women in Arizona of 2022 including Ruth Veloria, chief strategy and customer officer for the University of Phoenix. In celebration of the 11th anniversary of the Most Influential Women program, azbigmedia.com is profiling one of the Most Influential Women of 2022 each day leading up to the Most Influential Women of 2022 dinner and reception.


READ ALSO: The Most Influential Women in Arizona Business for 2022

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The Most Influential Women for 2022 will be honored at a reception on August 25 at Chateau Luxe in Phoenix. For sponsorship information, email Amy.Lindsey@azbigmedia.com. For information about the event honoring the Most Influential Women, email Lynette.Carrington@azbigmedia.com or click here. To buy tickets, click here.

Ruth Veloria, chief strategy and customer officer, University of Phoenix

BACKGROUND: Ruth Veloria is a customer first visionary who has led the reinvention of student experience for the past decade at University of Phoenix. She holds an MA in Chemistry from Oxford University, completed her MBA at Kellogg Graduate School of Management, and has over 25 years of experience in strategic business issues and customer experience innovation

SOURCE OF PRIDE: “I am a huge advocate for customer centricity. When I joined University of Phoenix, I brought best practices to build a better student listening and follow up system. This system continues to provide insights that influence many policy changes which have improved outcomes for our busy working adult students.”

SURPRISING FACT: “I owe my comfort with public speaking to many years spent in musical theatre. I have performed in nine of the fourteen Gilbert and Sullivan comic Operettas and met my husband at Kellogg doing the annual “Special K” revue; a student written, directed, and produced show.”

SOURCE OF INSPIRATION: “Margaret Thatcher was a highly visible female leader during my youth, and I followed a similar path from the middle class to a degree in chemistry at Oxford University. Her work ethic, her principled determination, and her ability to succeed in a male dominated arena inspired my journey.” 

 Most Influential Women in Arizona Business for 2022

Dr. Suzanne Bentz, Red Mountain Weight Loss

Stephanie A. Bivens, Bivens & Associates

Rachel M. Bond, MD, Dignity Health

Suzanne Boyles, City of Buckeye

Alaina Chabrier, SRP

Margaret Chamberlain, OneAZ Credit Union

Rachel Davis-Schultz, CopperPoint Insurance Companies 

Jennifer Delgado, Burch & Cracchiolo

Brigitte Finley Green, Engelman Berger

Lin Sue Flood, Hospice of the Valley

Christine Gannon, BrightWorks Consulting

Karen Hoffman Tepper, PhD, Terros Health

Dawn Jones, Intel

Lisa Lovallo, Cox Communications

Lyndel Manson, Arizona Board of Regents

Carli Ann McClure, Grant Thornton

Karla Morales, Arizona Technology Council

Emily Nachlas, Western Alliance Bancorporation

Breanna Naegeli, PhD, Grand Canyon University

Shar Najafi-Piper, PhD, Copa Health

Christina Noyes, Gust Rosenfeld

Grace O’Sullivan, Arizona State University

Reena Rastogi, MD, Phoenix Children’s Hospital

Sara Regan, Desert Financial Credit Union

Karen Roch,  Credit Union West

Lisa Rulney, University of Arizona

Melanie Smihula, Edkey Sequoia Schools

Sherry Stotler, Valleywise Health

Lynn Toler, TV judge and host 

Kelli Tonkin, Enterprise Bank & Trust

Telle VanTrojen, Geneva Financial

Ruth Veloria, University of Phoenix

Amy Walters, Cancer Treatment Centers of America

Annabel Whiting, PNC

Reine Yazbeck Hamilton, Wells Fargo 

Sandra Zebrowski, MD, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona

Most Influential Women in Commercial Real Estate for 2022

Morgan Betancourt, project director, Okland Construction 

Keri Davies, partner, LevRose Commercial Real Estate

Alicia Hardwick, leasing manager, Prologis

Michelle Heeb, president and CEO, Forward Tilt

Dani Huval, business development director, Chasse Building Team

Bev Jensen, regional operations manager, Colliers

Carrie Kelly, executive director, Arizona Association for Economic Development

Alexandra Loye, executive managing director, Cushman & Wakefield

Stephanie Maderazzo-Hughes, CEO and COO, Canyon State Electric

Nancy McClure, first vice president, CBRE

Kathleen Morgan, managing director, Newmark

Vicki Robinson, senior vice president, JLL

Heather Skinner, vice president of global real estate, JP Morgan Chase

Angela Watson, president and CEO, Shepley Bulfinch