2021 Community Builder Award (Large City/Town)
Jay Davies
Chief of Staff for the City Manager's Office/Interim Public Works Director, City of Peoria
Jay Davies is currently the Interim Public Works Director for the City of Peoria, overseeing operations including fleet, streets, solid waste, transit, and facilities. He has served with Peoria since 1997 in a variety of roles, most of which spanned a 20-year career as a civilian manager in the Peoria Police Department. In his time with the police department, Davies managed a wide array of programs and services, including victim assistance, neighborhood mediation, media relations, personnel, training, administration and budget, records, communications, and a variety of civilian enforcement functions.
Most recently, Davies served as the Chief of Staff to City Manager Jeff Tyne, supporting the executive team and managing special projects and strategic efforts, and led the city's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Davies holds a Master's Degree in Public Administration and an undergraduate degree in Psychology from Arizona State University, completed the Northwestern University School of Police Command, and is a Certified Public Manager. Prior to his local government service, he worked in the not-for-profit, social service sector with various populations.
2021 Community Builder Award (Small City/Town)
Nathan Torres
Director of Parks and Recreation, City of Goodyear
Nathan Torres has served as Goodyear’s Parks and Recreation Director since 2012. His parks and recreation career spans more than three decades having started as a teenager, progressing through nearly every level of the profession. His passion for the profession stems from lifelong participation in parks and recreation programs. Torres’ philosophy is simple: park and recreation services enhance the quality of life for all ages, abilities, and interests and is the cornerstone for building and maintaining a vibrant and healthy community.
In his current role, Torres oversees parks, recreation programs, library services, public art, and the Goodyear Ballpark, Spring Training home of the Cleveland Indians and Cincinnati Reds.
He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Education from Arizona State University and a Master’s Degree in Organizational Leadership from Northern Arizona University. Torres is also an active member in the Arizona Parks and Recreation Association (APRA) and the National Recreation and Parks Association (NRPA).
2021 Community Builder Award (Small City/Town)
Dr. Sophina Manheimer Calderon
Deputy Chief of Staff for the Tuba City Regional Health Care Corporation
Dr. Sophina Manheimer Calderon is Diné (Navajo) from Tuba City, Arizona on the Navajo Nation. She is a graduate of Dartmouth College and obtained her medical degree from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. She completed her residency training in family medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center with an emphasis in women’s health and global health.
Dr. Calderon currently works at Tuba City Regional Health Care Corporation where she is the Deputy Chief of Staff. She is the HIV officer for TCRHCC providing subspecialized HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention for adults and adolescents on the Western Navajo Nation. With a commitment to global health, Dr. Calderon also serves on medical brigades to Honduras with her University of Rochester Family Medicine Residency Program.
Dr. Calderon received the 2017 Humanitarian Award from the University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry which recognizes dedication to providing medical care to the underprivileged and underserved.
She is cofounder of the Navajo organization Diné Bá’ádeit’í (For the People) which is dedicated to helping members of the Navajo Nation. Their most successful project, with the assistance of The Arizona Nature Conservancy and the Wood for Life Project, has been bringing over 1600 loads of firewood to warm homes across the Navajo Nation during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Most recently, Dr. Calderon has been assisting the Epi Reponse Team at TCRHCC with their COVID-19 response to the pandemic. Her focus has been on community education and outreach.
2021 Emerging Leader Award
Heath Vescovi-Chiordi
Assistant to the Town Manager, Town of Marana
Heath Vescovi-Chiordi is currently the Assistant to the Town Manager in the Manager’s Office for the Town of Marana. He graduated from the University of Arizona with a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and Spanish, as well as a Master’s Degree in Public Administration with an emphasis on local government.
His areas of focus at the Town of Marana are Town/City Management and Economic Development, which focuses his efforts on efficient Government Administration, as well as sustainable growth within the community related to the economy.
Vescovi-Chiordi is also a certified Arizona Economic Development Professional through the Arizona Association for Economic Development (AAED), and also sits on the Board there as well. Additionally, he received the Member of the Year Award in 2019 from AAED for his contributions to local Economic Development. He also designed and implemented a class at the University of Arizona School of Government and Public Policy, focusing on teaching the essentials of Economic Development and Local Government Administration to Masters of Public Administration students.
He is also heavily involved in the Greater Tucson community, having recently graduated from the inaugural cohort of the Greater Tucson Leadership Civic and Political Leadership Class, as well as by sitting on the Board for the Arizona Town Hall Association, and Tucson Young Professionals. Most recently, Heath was named a 2019 40 Under 40 Honoree by the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, as well as appointed to the Pima County Workforce Investment Board, and the Judicial Performance Review Commission for the State of Arizona.
2021 Civic Leader Award
Bo Dul
State Elections Director, Arizona Secretary of State’s Office
Sambo (Bo) Dul joined the Secretary of State’s Office as the State Elections Director in January 2019. Before that, she was a partner at Perkins Coie LLP, focusing on election and voting rights litigation, international anti-corruption compliance and investigations, and immigrant and refugee rights matters. Dul grew up in Tempe and received Bachelor’s degrees in Economics, Political Science, and Spanish from Arizona State University. She received her Master’s in Public Affairs from Princeton University and Juris Doctorate from New York University School of Law. She clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit before moving back home to Arizona in 2013.