The Pima County Board of Supervisors appointed Jan Lesher County Administrator in April 2022. She oversees the policies and goals established by the Board of Supervisors while managing a 1.8 billion annual budget that is comprised of 54 departments and over 7,300 employees.Lesher joined Pima County in 2010, advancing to serve as Deputy County Administrator, Chief Deputy County Administrator and Acting County Administrator prior to her appointment as the first female Pima County Administrator in April 2022.
Lesher returned to her hometown in 2010 after serving former Governor and Secretary Janet Napolitano since January 2003. Lesher served Department of Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano as Chief of Staff, overseeing the daily activities of Agency’s 230,000 employees and $52 billion budget. Immediately prior to her move with the Secretary to Washington, DC, Lesher was the Governor’s Chief of Staff. Prior to being named to that position, Lesher served as Director of the Arizona Department of Commerce and the Director of the Governor’s Southern Arizona Office.
Born, raised and educated in Tucson, her professional experience is extensive; she served as Vice-President of Communications and marketing for the Tucson Economic Development Corporation, Executive Director of the Tucson Community Cable Corporation and Vice-President of Warner-Amex Cable prior to establishing Lesher Communications, Inc., a small business she owned and operated for a dozen years.
Her history of community involvement is impressive, including service as a member of the Board of Directors of Arizona Town Hall; the Community Foundation of Southern Arizona; the University of Arizona College of Social & Behavioral Science; the Community Food Bank; and La Frontera. She was named a Woman of Influence by Inside Tucson Business and recognized with the Women Who Lead award from the University of Arizona Women’s Studies Advisory Council in 2004. She was honored as the Metropolitan Tucson Chamber of Commerce Woman of the Year in 2005. In 2008 she was the Arizona Capitol Times Leader of the Year in Public Policy and received the YWCA Business Leadership Award. Selected in 2021 by BizTucson as a Woman Leading the Region, she was also named one of the Women Achievers in Arizona by the Arizona Capitol Times in 2022.
