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Arizona Center for Civic Leadership
Enhancing civic life in Arizona through education, engagement, and leadership programs.
The Center’s cornerstone initiative which includes participation in the Flinn-Brown Academy and Flinn-Brown Network.
Meet the 517 Fellows who make up the Flinn-Brown Network through this searchable directory.
Join us for online public policy seminars emphasizing learning and discussion.
A partnership to measure Arizona's progress on civic participation and connected communities—and act.
A statewide resource for organizations strengthening civic leadership by working together on common priorities.
A program helping teens build necessary skills and knowledge as they imagine unique paths to civic responsibility.
Connect with Arizona Center for Civic Leadership: Stay up to date. Join our email list.
The Arizona Center for Civic Leadership
The nonpartisan Arizona Center for Civic Leadership at the Flinn Foundation enhances civic life in Arizona through civic education, engagement, and leadership-development programs. Flinn Young Leaders emphasizes civic learning and skill-building and helps teens imagine paths to making a difference. CivEx delivers educational programming for the public to become better-informed on Arizona policy and political topics. The Civic Leadership Collaborative and the Arizona Civic Life Partnership convene organizations that strengthen civic participation and connected communities. The Center’s cornerstone, the prestigious Flinn-Brown Fellowship, is an immersive experience for community leaders from diverse backgrounds. Fellows engage in rich discussions with policymakers and political experts; join a robust professional network; and gain understanding of how to address Arizona’s most pressing issues through public service.
Sept. 23 CivEx to provide cross-sector AI perspectives
The Arizona Center for Civic Leadership will host a virtual CivEx at 3 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 23, to explore artificial intelligence. The one-hour event will be moderated by Flinn-Brown Fellow Chris Richardson, senior vice president, enterprise architecture, CSAA. Chris will be joined by Minky Kernacs, co-founder and CEO, Mercurio Analytics; Srinivas Mukkamala, CEO, Securin Inc.; and J.R. Sloan, chief information officer, Arizona Strategic Enterprise Technology (ASET).
This conversation will bring together perspectives from the private and public sectors to explore the opportunities, risks, and policy questions civic leaders should understand as the technology continues to evolve. [Register]
Fellow Ashley Bridwell combines social work, civic leadership at BNI
For more than two decades, Ashley Bridwell has helped people navigate complex systems during some of the most vulnerable moments of their lives. What began as a career in clinical social work has grown into a civic leadership journey spanning healthcare, law enforcement, disability advocacy, research, and public policy.
Bridwell began her career at Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center, working with patients and families confronting life-changing neurological diagnoses and injuries. Her work is also deeply personal. A brain tumor survivor, Ashley experienced serious illness in her early 20s, shaping both her clinical practice and her commitment to improving systems for others. [Read more]
In their own words: Meet the 2026 Flinn-Brown Fellows
In this compilation video, be introduced to this year’s 24 Flinn-Brown Fellows representing eight Arizona counties in fields as varied as rural health care, municipal finance, affordable housing, agriculture, education, and law, while sharing a commitment to public service.
The Arizona Center for Civic Leadership at the Flinn Foundation selected 24 Arizonans as the 2026 Flinn-Brown Fellows—the 18th cohort of a program that has, since 2011, connected civic-minded leaders across the state with the policy knowledge, peer networks, and tools to make a real difference in Arizona. The Fellows are currently in the midst of the Flinn-Brown Academy which runs into November. [Watch video]
Arizona Center for Civic Leadership celebrating 15 years
Throughout 2026, the Flinn Foundation marks the 15th anniversary of the Arizona Center for Civic Leadership as an important moment for us to reflect on how the Center began and how its work has evolved over time.
Over time, the Center has grown beyond its original focus on preparing state-level leaders. Under the leadership of Flinn Foundation President and CEO Tammy McLeod, Ph.D., and Flinn Foundation Vice President, Civic Leadership Dawn Wallace, the Center has continued to evolve, embracing a more expansive understanding of civic leadership that begins with education, deepens through experience, and is sustained through connection, dialogue, and long-term engagement within Arizona’s civic life. [Read more]
Connection to place is foundational to Daryl Melvin’s work for Indigenous communities
Daryl Melvin carries something most civic leaders don’t: a relationship with this land that stretches back generations. Hopi and Navajo, he was raised in Nuvatukya’ovi—Flagstaff—on land that has sustained his family through farming, gathering, and hunting. That connection to place is not incidental to his work. It is the foundation of it.
After earning a degree in civil engineering from the University of Arizona, Daryl was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Public Health Service. He designed health care systems and worked in hospital and clinic leadership before founding a civil engineering firm that works with native-led nonprofits, tribal governments, and schools. [Read more]
4th-generation Arizonan’s constitutional law work an investment in the state’s future
As a partner at Perkins Coie, Alexis Danneman, J.D., has represented a presidential candidate, the Arizona Attorney General, and the Arizona Governor in voting rights and election law matters. Her clients depend on public policies that uphold the rule of law and the strength of government institutions.
A fourth-generation Arizonan, her roots in the state run deep. After graduating from Georgetown, she earned her law degree at the University of Arizona. That return wasn’t incidental. Arizona is in her bones. [Read more]
News and Updates
Civic Leadership
Flinn-Brown Fellow Brent Burgett
Brent Burgett grew up in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the youngest of three children, shaped by a father who was a combat veteran and volunteer firefighter and a mother whose New Mexico roots instilled in him a strong work ethic. After graduating from the University of New Mexico, he moved to Arizona to pursue a career in fire service, working two jobs while he earned an associate degree in fire science from Scottsdale Community College.
Civic Leadership
September 2026 Network News
When Fellows chose “Living the Network: 15 Years of Leadership in Action” as the theme for this year’s Flinn-Brown Convention, it felt like the right way to mark an important milestone. Fifteen years is certainly worth celebrating, but what I kept thinking about throughout the day was not how long the program has existed. It was how much this Network has grown—and what it takes to keep it meaningful.
Civic Leadership
CivEx: Cross-Sector Perspectives on Artificial Intelligence
In this CivEx: Cross-Sector Perspectives on Artificial Intelligence, moderated by Flinn-Brown Fellow Chris Richardson, senior vice president, enterprise architecture, CSAA, the panel included Minky Kernacs, co-founder and CEO, Mercurio Analytics; Srinivas Mukkamala, CEO, Securin Inc.; and J.R. Sloan, chief information officer, Arizona Strategic Enterprise Technology (ASET).
Civic Leadership
Flinn-Brown Fellow Ashley Bridwell
For more than two decades, Ashley Bridwell has helped people navigate complex systems during some of the most vulnerable moments of their lives. What began as a career in clinical social work has grown into a civic leadership journey spanning healthcare, law enforcement, disability advocacy, research, and public policy.
For information about Civic Leadership, please contact:
civicleadership@flinn.org or (602) 744-6832
