This is a past event. Registration is closed. View other Tempe Chamber of Commerce events.
Corey Woods
Mayoral CandidateCorey Woods is the community relations officer at ASU Preparatory Academy. He is responsible for assisting the managing director/head of schools with external partnerships and strategic initiatives. Woods previously served as the chief operating officer for the Greater Phoenix Urban League, director of college and career articulation for the Phoenix Union High School District and director of government relations for the American Lung Association of Arizona.
His personal commitment to community service extends to board memberships for many organizations including Newtown community Development Corporation, Friendship Village, and Landings Credit Union. Woods is also an emeritus board member of Equality Arizona, active member and past president of the Kiwanis Club of Tempe, former board chair for Children’s Action Alliance, and former two-term board president of the Tempe Boys and Girls Club - Ladmo Branch.
Woods served as a Councilmember for the City of Tempe from July 2008 – July 2016. He was elected to the Tempe City Council in May 2008 and reelected in March 2012. Woods was instrumental in guiding city policy that led to Tempe's perfect score in the Human
Rights Campaign’s “Municipal Equality Index.” He championed initiatives in the areas of affordable housing and human services while working tirelessly to improve community development standards to attract business investment and protect neighborhoods.
Woods graduated from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in April 2000 with a B.A. in Political Science, and a minor in African-American Studies. After college, Woods was a teaching assistant at ASU for three years. In May 2018, Woods earned a Master of Arts in
Educational Policy from ASU’s Mary Lou Fulton College of Education.
Doreen Garlid
City Council CandidateWith 30 years of community leadership experience, Doreen Garlid wants to put her vision and experience to work for Tempe.
Under Doreen’s leadership, many local community groups and organizations have thrived. She is the current chair of Tempe’s Neighborhood Advisory Commission and the President of the Buena Vista Ranchos Homeowners Association. She is a graduate of Tempe Leadership Class XXXIV and currently serves on the board of directors for Newtown Community Development Corporation and the Tempe Impacts Education (TIE) Foundation. She previously served as President of the National Charity League, Inc. East Valley, President of the Waggoner Elementary School PTO, President of the Kyrene Middle School PTO, Vice-President of Seton Catholic Preparatory School PTO, Umpire Chair and Secretary for Tempe South Little League, a Girl Scout Leader, and on the Board of Directors of Developing Workers. She is a Tempe Dementia Friendly Champion and a member of Kiwanis Club of Tempe and Tempe Sister Cities. She is a recipient of the City of Tempe’s 2020 MLK Diversity Award for her outstanding commitment to education and visibility of Navajo culture. For 45 years, Doreen and her mother have offered free, educational community presentations about Navajo culture and family life. As a member of the Navajo Nation, Doreen would be the first Native American to serve on the Tempe City Council. Her grand uncle was a World War II Navajo Code Talker in the U.S. Marines and her great grandfather was a Navajo Medicine Man. She has also served over 10,000 people in impoverished countries all over the world with Mobilize Medical as a Mission Team Member and Medications Coordinator.
Issues that top her list of council priorities include: giving neighborhoods a voice by empowering residents to speak up for their community and holding our city leaders accountable to listen and act on those recommendations; making our boards and commissions more resident-driven; advocating for more affordable and workforce housing; making public safety a priority; addressing homelessness through regional partnerships and cost-effective service models such as Housing First; valuing people before politics and elevating a culture of service in Tempe; ensuring fiscal responsibility and good stewardship of taxpayer dollars; supporting local businesses; acting on climate change and prioritizing sustainability; being smart about growth and development so we don’t lose the unique character of Tempe; honoring and supporting our city’s veterans and military families; and being a welcoming city for all.
Doreen is a wife and mother of four grown children. Professionally, she previously worked as the newsroom business manager for KSAZ-TV Fox 10. However, as a city council member, her only job and her number one priority would be serving the people of Tempe.
Randy Keating
Tempe City CouncilRandy Keating moved to Tempe in 2003 and, as soon as he arrived, he was impressed. His old brother, a native Tempean, picked him up from Sky Harbor and they took the 202 Freeway to his apartment. When he and his brother passed Sun Devil Stadium (which at the time stood alone), Randy decided Tempe was going to be his new home.
Though Randy was only supposed to be visiting, he quickly began looking for a job and applied to Arizona State University. His brother lived near Mill Avenue in downtown Tempe, which to a young man from a small town, seemed like the center of the universe. He knew that Tempe was clearly a very special city. Randy found a job in a matter of days at a cyber café on Seventh Street and Mill Ave, and was accepted to ASU, where he studied physics and astronomy.
In late 2009, after he saw what he believed were too many injustices in the world, Randy made a decision to follow the guidance of Gandhi and be the change he wanted to see in the world. Once he started, Randy found real satisfaction in helping others, and it quickly became a lifestyle. Randy didn’t know it at the time, but his life was about to take an immense turn.
Randy devoted countless hours as a community volunteer, and on top of the time he spent running his own small business. Through this work, he also began meeting community leaders and developing professional relationships that inspired him and would eventually lead to Randy’s candidacy for Tempe City Council. Randy was recognized for this work in the community when he was awarded the City of Tempe’s MLK Diversity Award in January 2016.
Though Randy had been working to better his community for several years now, he still felt Tempe has given him so much, and was compelled to give back in every way he could. Because of Tempe, Randy has friends, family, employment, his own business, and now, a seat on the City Council.
Joel Navarro
Tempe City Council at City of TempeJoel Navarro has been on the Tempe City Council for three terms and is running for his fourth.
Navarro has had the opportunity to help the City through economic downturns and rebounds.
During his 11 years on the council, the City has seen tremendous growth and is well positioned for the future.
Born and raised in Tempe, Navarro is a third-generation Arizonan who has spent most of his life in the Valley of the Sun.
With a commitment to public service and public safety, Navarro has served as a trained firefighter/paramedic with the Phoenix Fire Department since 1995. Presently as a Division Chief, he works with other public safety agencies across Maricopa County on a variety of different issues.
In 2001, Navarro was appointed to the City of Tempe's Human Relations Commission, serving as chair in 2006. For that commission, Navarro chaired various subcommittees including Day Labor and Emerging Issues. He is a graduate of Tempe Leadership Class XIX and has spent many hours volunteering for the Tempe Community Council to help allocate grant money to a variety of local nonprofit organizations.
Within the National League of Cities (NLC), Navarro currently serves as past president of the Hispanic Elected Local Officials (HELO) and presently sits on the board for National League of Cities. He was also been on the Executive Board for NLC in 2017 and NLC's Public Safety & Crime Prevention Steering Committee. In addition, he was a board member of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO). Through NLC, Navarro was part of a national, regional and local committees to help stop opioid addiction.
Navarro is dedicated to providing leadership and mentoring to children of all ages. For more than 20 years, he has coached a variety of sports, including basketball, baseball, soccer and football, and has coached 13 years as an assistant football coach at Marcos De Niza High School, with the junior varsity and varsity teams.
Navarro is a graduate from Marcos De Niza High School. He played four years of sports: football, basketball, baseball and track, lettering in football and basketball. While at Marcos, he also attained the rank of Eagle Scout, attended Boy's State and was in "Who's Who Among American High School Students 1984-85."
After attending Phoenix College and Mesa Community College, Navarro received a full athletic football scholarship to New Mexico State University. While at NMSU, he helped local charities including Salvation Army and Special Olympics and was a Founding Father of Sigma Phi Epsilon. Navarro graduated from NMSU in 1991 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Advertising Design.
Moving back to Tempe, Navarro received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Ottawa University in secondary education and did his student teaching at Tempe High.
Navarro is married to wife Stephanie and has three children, Jillian, Parker and Henley and lives in central Tempe neighborhood where he grew up.
Cary Pfeffer
Panel Moderator, Speaker, Author, Media Trainer and Speaker CoachMy time with you is about bringing new life to your messages.
It is finding the right way for you to connect with each new audience.
The specific work I do? High profile speaker training, national media training, speaking on communication issues as well as business development, representing a small group of clients wishing to expand their profile in the Phoenix area.
What does the work look like? This is not a hired gun relationship. Many of my clients have sought me out and we have worked together for years. It is a relationship based on trust. We spend time together when important messages need to be delivered and practice is taken seriously.
The experience is efficient because I understand the demands on the time of those I work with. We make great progress over short periods – sometimes in a single hour.
It is about doing good work for you over time.
Now those lessons have been compiled in my book, "There's Not an App for That!" www.NoAppBook.com.
Authentic communication. There are no short-cuts to the recipe.
Specialties: National Media Interview Prep, Presentation Skills Training, Business Development, Crisis Communication Training, Television Production for High Profile Public Projects.