Rachel Weiss

Rachel Weiss
Hired by Rose Law Group to help continue to expand its business litigation practice. She will focus on business litigation and employment law. Before joining Rose Law Group, Ms. Weiss was with law firm Brown & Bain and served as the lobbyist for the city of Glendale. She looks forward to her new position as it marries her real estate and lobbying background with her skills as a litigator and employment law attorney.

Awards
• Dora Schriro, director of the Arizona Department of Corrections, was honored Aug. 5, with the Award for Distinguished Service to State Government at the National Governors Association’s 98th Annual Meeting in Charleston, S.C. She was presented with the award by outgoing NGA Vice Chair Governor Napolitano and outgoing NGA Chair and Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.
Ms. Schriro is highly regarded for her reforms in the Department of Corrections, beginning with an extensive review of the entire agency, including input from corrections employees, inmates and their advocates, the state Legislature and victims. Under her tenure, she has implemented a system she calls “Parallel Universe,” that helps inmates prepare to re-enter the workforce, the number of GEDs earned by inmates has increased by nearly 400 percent, and she secured correctional officers a $3,000 pay raise.
Ms. Napolitano assumed her new role as NGA chair Aug. 7.
Associations
• Donald Erickson was hired by Arizona’s Children Association as the second regional director for the central region. He brings 25 years of experience in counseling, teaching and program development to the ACA. He has served as a community volunteer, outpatient clinical director, agency director, therapist and university professor in counseling.
Arizona’s Children Association is the state’s largest not-for-profit child welfare and behavioral health organization, serving more than 42,000 children and families throughout the state.
Societies
• Helen Padgett, a faculty member at Arizona State University, was named an at-large officer of the International Society for Technology in Education at its board meeting held on July 2 in San Diego.
During her 20-year career, Ms. Padgett has been involved with technology and professional development activities at the public school, state and university levels. She also developed the state-recognized Technology Mentor Teacher Program to support educational technology.
Education
• Cathy McKee was appointed as fellow for community engagement by Arizona State University’s Morrison Institute for Public Policy, now located at the new downtown Phoenix campus.
She has 30 years of community engagement and investment experience, most recently as senior vice president and director of communication, customer and community services for General Dynamics C4 Systems, and has long been involved with ASU. Her career has focused on corporate responsibility and citizenship. She has served or chaired numerous boards of civic and private organizations. Ms. McKee was named the 2005 Humanitarian of the Year by the National Conference for Community and Justice.