The 2016 Most Influential Women
Margery Brown
Chief operating officer Greater Phoenix Economic Council (GPEC) Brown is COO of GPEC and executive director of the Partnership for Economic Innovation, the organization responsible for positioning Greater Phoenix as a global hub for innovation. Brown serves as the chairman of the board for the Arizona Health Facilities Authority, and is on the boards of the Arizona Voices Institute, Arizona School for the Arts and the Healthcare Transitional Funding Corporation. Advice: “Go out of your way to support other women.” Surprising fact: “In my 30s, I had a motorcycle named Buttercup.”
Christina Burroughs
Managing partner MRA Associates Burroughs leads the private client practice at MRA Associates. Delivering excellence with passion, the team serves families’ best interests through sophisticated wealth planning. Advice: “Align yourself with an organization whose unwavering objective is to serve clients’ interests above everything else. Pay attention to those who have gone before, and help those who come behind – both teach us.” Surprising fact: “I can still recite the 4-H pledge, having spent many years learning and competing at the county and state levels in Nebraska. No, not with livestock, but just about everything else.”
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AB | July - August 2016
Kami Cothrun Founder Pieceful Solutions
Cothrun is the founder of Pieceful Solutions schools, which opened in 2008 to offer children with autism spectrum disorders and other developmental delays a comprehensive program from kindergarten through 12th grade. Advice: “Never give up. I’m a believer in the saying, ‘Where there is a will, there is a way.’ No matter what hurdles I’ve come across, I have always refused to quit.” Surprising fact: “Believe it or not, when I first started college I wanted to become an optometrist, but then somehow things took a massive turn and I fell in love with education.”
Jaime R. Daddona
Partner Squire Patton Boggs Daddona’s practice focuses on corporate matters, with an emphasis on mergers and acquisitions, commercial transactions, securities offerings and compliance, and corporate governance. She is also active in community and charitable organizations and is a director of My Help Button, a nonprofit dedicated to suicide prevention. Advice: “Work harder and smarter than your peers and rise to the top because you’re the best, not because you’re a woman.” Surprising fact: “If I could no longer practice law, my dream job would be to host the British television series ‘Top Gear.’”