Jack W. Lunsford  -  Member at Large

Jack Lunsford is President/CEO of WESTMARC, a regional coalition among the leaders of business, government, education, and community organizations in Western Maricopa County.  WESTMARC develops and advocates good, strong public policy in the West Valley and provides leadership for the entire Valley on its behalf.  Jack was a founder of WESTMARC, and proudly served as its first President. Jack joined WESTMARC in January 2004, retiring from the Maricopa Community Colleges after serving 20 years as the founding Director of Government Relations and External Affairs.  At the Maricopa Community Colleges he was responsible for intergovernmental relations, legislative affairs, and public policy development for the district and its ten colleges and education centers in the local, state and federal arenas.  He also played a major role in the District's external affairs effort.  Jack's advice and counsel are often sought by many people on political and public affairs issues in the community. Jack currently represents WESTMARC and the West Valley on a variety of boards and organizations:  the Arizona Business & Education Council; the ASU President’s Economic Advisory Council;  the Maricopa Partnership for Arts and Culture Board; the Maricopa County Regional Task Force on Affordable Housing; the Business Leaders Council (and Steering Committee); Friends of the West Valley Recreation Corridor; the Maryvale Revitalization Corporation, the Luke-West Valley Council; Fighter Country Partnership; Luke AFB Honorary Commanders Program; and the Maryvale YMCA Founders Committee. Jack is a recognized leader and expert in government relations, external affairs, coalition building, and lobbying.  He has specific expertise in property tax matters, economic development, higher education and community college funding.  In 2003, Jack was honored by his peers as the only community college person to win the prestigious Marvin D. “Swede” Johnson Award for Outstanding Excellence in State Relations.  He has been a speaker/lecturer on government relations, the legislative process, budget and finance issues, and property tax.  He has been a participant on many panels, including the National Conference of State Legislatures and the CASE State Relations Conference.  He is listed in Who's Who in America and Who's Who in the West. A native Arizonan, Jack is a former Coconino County Assessor.  He was appointed to that position in 1977 at the age of twenty-six, making him one of the youngest people in Arizona history to hold an elective office, and the youngest County Assessor. Appointed by Governor Fife Symington, Jack served six years as the Chair of the Arizona Commission for Postsecondary Education, and was an appointee by three different governors to the State Council for Vocational Education.  Jack was recently appointed by Governor Janet Napolitano to serve on the Citizens’ Transportation Oversight Committee.  Jack has a strong managerial record of success in the private sector.  During his career he has been a radio station manager, an assistant bank manager with First National Bank of Arizona (twice), a marketing specialist with Mountain Bell and AT&T in state and local government, a sports play-by-play announcer, an insurance agent and a community college instructor.  He has also been a professional actor and model, and is a member of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. Nationally, Jack was a member of the CASE State Relations Task Force, and he was a member of the working group of higher education's Joint Commission on Accountability Reporting.  He was an original member of the Arizona State team for President Clinton's School-to-Work Initiative, and has been on the Taxation and Finance Steering Committee of the National Association of Counties. In Arizona, Jack has served as president of Arizonans for Cultural Development, the statewide arts advocacy group, and of the Arizona Policy Forum, a statewide public policy advocacy group.  Jack has also been active on the Public Affairs and Education Committees of the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, and on the Education and Tax Committees of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce.  He has also served on the Maricopa Chancellor's Teacher Education Preparation Commission. In addition, Jack was the first public sector president of the Public Affairs Professionals of Arizona (PAPA), and has served as a board member of Kids Voting Arizona, Inc.  Jack has chaired the Arizona Tax Conference. Jack has also been director and/or a member of numerous other boards and organizations throughout Arizona.  These include Valley Citizens League, Big Brothers, Glendale Kachina Rotary and Camelback Kiwanis, City of Glendale Cable Commission and Cemetery Advisory Board, Residents for Safe and Efficient Transportation---the first successful effort to fund freeways in Maricopa County in 1985, several Chambers of Commerce, the American Institute of Banking, and KNAU Public Radio.  He is a graduate of the first class of Glendale Leadership. Jack is married to Anna and is the proud father of Amber, a fifth-grade teacher in the Peoria School District (Arizona), and eleven-year-old twins, Kelsey and Erin.  He has a degree in broadcast communications from Southern Methodist University and earned his Masters in Public Administration at Arizona State University.  He is currently enrolled in the Doctoral program in educational leadership at Northern Arizona University.