Christine Mackay

“Every day I have the privilege of helping to build our city of the future for businesses and residents,” says Phoenix Community and Economic Development Director Christine Mackay.

Mackay has served the people of Phoenix since August 2014. She is responsible for leading and fostering an environment where businesses can create and retain jobs, make capital investment and reinvestment in the community, and connect our workforce to employers and training opportunities. During Mackay’s tenure with the city of Phoenix, the department has facilitated the creation of more than 63,000 high-value jobs, seen the average wage of those jobs increase from more than $30,000 in 2014 to more than $70,000 in 2019, and closed deals with more than $58 billion in capital investment.

Mackay leads a department of more than 55 full-time staff that encompasses the full spectrum of economic development areas, including business attraction, business retention and expansion, community development, international relations, Sister Cities, the Phoenix Business and Workforce Development Board, administration, research, marketing and the city-owned Talking Stick Resort Arena.

She is a two-time honoree as Economic Developer of the Year, Large Community by the Arizona Association for Economic Development. Mackay was recognized as Leader of the Year in Economic Development–Public Policy by the Arizona Capitol Times, and Industry Leader of the Year — Economic Development by Arizona Commercial Real Estate Magazine. She has also been on the list of the Phoenix Business Journal’s 50 Most Influential Women in Arizona.

She is a member of the Economic Development Director’s Team for Greater Phoenix, Maricopa Association of Government’s Building a Quality Regional Community committee, Flinn Foundation Biosciences Roadmap committee, the International Economic Development Council, Commercial Office Real Estate Executives (CoreNet), the Arizona Association for Economic Development and the Arizona Business Incubator Association.

Mackay has more than 20 years’ experience in economic development overlapping 30 years of commercial real estate experience. She has spent both her personal and professional life here in the Valley.