Suzanne Pfister, a former Arizona State Parks Board chairman, is president of the new Arizona State Parks Foundation. The Foundation is the advocacy and fund-raising arm for Arizona’s 30 state parks and natural areas. It recently received its nonprofit designation from the Internal Revenue Service. Other board members are: Betsy Bolding, Tucson Electric Power; Karan English, Northern Arizona University; Celeste Hamilton, parks and recreation advocate, Phoenix; Carl Kunasek, retired Senate president; Frank Long, Stinson Morrison Hecker LLP; James Nelson, Wells Fargo, Tucson; Bill Roe, civic activist, Tucson; Richard Saenz, Arizona Diamondbacks; Richard Sims, Sharlot Hall Museum, Prescott; Ken Travous, ex-officio, Arizona State Parks director. The foundation’s goals are to ensure that elected officials understand the value of the parks and help improve the quality of the parks for all visitors.

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North Phoenix resident and former Senate candidate Judy Kennedy has been elected chair of the Maricopa County Democratic Party. Ms. Kennedy stepped into the leadership role replacing Sam Wercinski, who held the seat for the past two years. Ms. Kennedy had served as the first vice chair. Also elected to leadership at a Dec. 4 meeting were: Arif Kazmi, first vice chair; Lew Howell, second vice chair; Gloria Daley, secretary; Beth Newman, treasurer; and John Gomez, sergeant at arms.