Community Leaders to Know: Ginger Spencer
On December 1, 2025, Ginger Spencer was named Assistant City Manager for the City of Phoenix. In 2013, she was named by The Phoenix Business Journal as one of the “40 under 40" Top Business Leaders in Phoenix.
As a Phoenix native, how has your personal connection to the city shaped your leadership and commitment to serving the community?
I love our great city. Phoenix is truly a wonderful place to live, work, and play. It has been remarkable to watch the city grow, specifically Downtown, and to be a part of that change. I remember growing up and everything shutting down after 5p.m. in Downtown. Today, Downtown is on its way to becoming an 18-hour city thanks to the addition of thousands of housing units and world-class arts, sports and entertainment venues, major universities, innovation and research institutions, and great restaurants. Phoenix truly has something to offer any resident, visitor, or worker every day of the week.
Your career has touched everything from public works to arts and culture—how have these experiences informed your vision for building a more inclusive Phoenix?
Every best-in-class city is a vibrant city, and great cities are not built in a single generation. It takes leaders and visionaries who, over decades, plan, invest and build, while still embracing our rich cultural diversity and cherishing our history. Phoenix has been blessed to have leaders who have embraced transforming Downtown into a vibrant destination that is welcoming to all. I’m proud to be a part of the legacy of leaders that are forward-thinking in our approach to Downtown development and economic development throughout the City.
During Black History Month, what message or legacy do you hope to leave for the next generation of leaders working to shape Phoenix's future?
My family originally came to Phoenix in the 1920s. My great-great-great uncle was Hughie H. Rice, the owner of the Rice Hotel for Blacks when Phoenix was segregated located at 535 E. Jefferson Street in the area where Chase Field stands today. Uncle Rice, as my grandmother fondly called him, came to Phoenix seeking opportunity, and that legacy has been instilled in our family generation after generation. This message of hope was passed down to me by our family historian and my late great-aunt, Jean Williams, and my late grandmother, Dena Bealer. That’s the message of hope that I would share with others whether you’re a businessman, entrepreneur, medical assistant, teacher, construction worker, artist, innovator or government leader – Phoenix is a place of opportunity!
Click here to learn more about Ginger Spencer's background and role with the City of Phoenix.