Jerry McPherson serves as the Executive Director of the Arizona Commission of African-American Affairs (AZCAAA), where he spearheads statewide initiatives focused on advancing equity, opportunity, and advocacy for Arizona’s African-American community. In his leadership role, Jerry functions as a strategic advisor to the Governor, state legislature, and executive leadership across key state agencies—providing critical insight on how public policies, legislation, and statewide initiatives affect communities across the state.
He has previously served leadership roles in a number of capacities including Managing Director of Per Scholas Phoenix, and Director of Economic Empowerment for the Greater Phoenix Urban League (GPUL). In this role, he directs the historic non-profit’s workforce development initiatives, which provide marginalized communities with career opportunities and skills training to be competitive in the evolving economy such as the Entrepreneurship Center, which supports disadvantaged small businesses, and its financial literacy programs. Prior to joining GPUL, Jerry served as President of its volunteer auxiliary organization, the Greater Phoenix Urban League Young Professionals.
McPherson holds the designation of Certified Public Accountant, with nearly two decades of professional experience in corporate and public accounting. For his service to the Greater Phoenix community Jerry was awarded the 2025 Martin Luther King, Jr. “Living The Dream Award” by the City of Phoenix. Previously, Jerry was recognized by two different publications—the Phoenix Business Journal and CPA Practice Advisor—as one of their “40 under 40.” Jerry McPherson earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting from Virginia State University and is a graduate of the National Urban League’s highly selective Emerging Leaders program, led by Duke Corporate Education. In addition to his service to the community, Jerry is a Veteran having served five years in the Army National Guard.
Jerry McPherson is a member of the Greater Phoenix Workforce Leadership Academy, Class of 2021-22. Click here to learn more about local leadership academies in the Economic Opportunity Fellows Network.
The Workforce Leadership Academies are part of the Economic Opportunity Fellows Network, a network of leadership and fellowship programs run by the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program. Within this Network, EOP connects national and local leaders from across sectors — nonprofit, government, business, philanthropy, academia, and more — to advance policies and practices with the potential to help low- and moderate-income Americans thrive in today’s economy. Learn more at as.pn/eofn.
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