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Board of directors
Chair Sarah Watts, President/CEO Vice Chair Melany Edwards-Barton, CEO Immediate Past Chair Michael Guymon, Chief Advocacy Officer Board Members Kelly Anderson, Executive Director Jeffrey Campos, President/CEO Rhonda Carlson, President/CEO Chris Clark, President/CEO Zach Yentzer, President/CEO | Featured Board MembersSarah Watts, President/CEO Gilbert Chamber of Commerce
Sarah has a demonstrated practice of cultivating relationships and building strategic partnerships with chamber members, community volunteers, education partners, local and regional chambers of commerce leaders to benefit the Gilbert Chamber and its Foundation. She also has played key roles in the chamber’s strategic planning, fundraising, workforce development and marketing. Sarah believes in the importance of collaborative dialogue across industry sectors and job functions and places emphasis on bringing diverse groups together to solve the challenges that Gilbert may encounter. She established the Chamber's Business and Education Committee, Tours for Teachers program, and the annual Business & Education Summit. She also is proud to have launched and maintained the Chamber’s Adopt-A-Senior philanthropic initiative. Sarah is a summa cum laude graduate of Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication with a BA in Journalism, emphasis in Public Relations, and a minor in Communication (2002). She is a graduate of the Gilbert Leadership program (Class 21), and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Talent Pipeline Management (2019) and Institute for Organizational Management (2020) programs. She was named Business Person of the Year by the Association for Career and Technical Education of Arizona (2021) in recognition of her leadership and commitment to CTE in Gilbert and the surrounding communities through the workforce programs and initiatives she has developed and supports. She was appointed to the Board of Directors of Arizona Chamber Executives (ACE) in 2021 and will serve as Chairwoman in 2026. Sarah lives in Gilbert, Arizona, with her husband, Sean, and is mom to two teenagers. |
Sarah Watts, IOM, was named the President/CEO of the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce in July 2020. She joined the Chamber’s team in 2008, fulfilling roles as Executive Assistant, Communications and Marketing Director, Marketing and Special Events director, then Vice President of Workforce & Community Partnerships.Melany Edwards-Barton, CEO, Sky Island Regional Partnership
Melany Edwards-Barton, IOM, a 2026 graduate of the U.S. Chamber’s Institute for Organization Management, brings over 25 years of leadership experience across non-profit, for-profit, and volunteer sectors. She earned her Associate in Business Administration with honors from Cochise College and her Bachelor’s in Business Administration, Magna Cum Laude, from Northern Arizona University.
As of January 2026, Melany serves as Vice-Chair of Arizona Chamber Executives and has led the Sky Islands Regional Partnership (formerly the Sierra Vista Area Chamber of Commerce) as CEO since 2019, following years of active involvement as a member, board leader, and Military Affairs Committee co-chair. She also serves on the Cochise College Foundation Board, the Fort Huachuca 50 Board, and is a founding member of the Chamber Alliance of Southern Arizona.
A Gold Star wife, Melany has lived and worked in Cochise County for over 24 years and is a proud mother and grandmother.
ABOUT ARIZONA CHAMBER EXECUTIVES
Arizona Chamber Executives (ACE) is a nonprofit organization assisting chamber executives throughout Arizona to become informed, effective leaders in their communities.
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