Cristie Street

BizTUCSONJuly 7, 2026

2 minutes read

Senior VP, COO
Southern Arizona Leadership Council

By Jay Gonzales

When it comes to leadership, Cristie Street doesn’t necessarily think it always comes from the front, as the term implies.

Street, who has successfully navigated through leadership roles in business and philanthropy, and who now serves as COO of one of the region’s most influential business organizations, says leadership can come from just about anywhere.

“In some ways, leadership is sort of the ultimate group project. We all play a role depending on what the project is,” said Street, who has been senior VP and COO at Southern Arizona Leadership Council since 2025 after a business career that included co-founding tech company Nextrio.

Street has been active in the Tucson philanthropic community with organizations including Ronald McDonald House Charities, Sister Jose Women’s Center, Tucson Jewish Community Center, Arizona Public Media and the Rothschild Fund for Civic Innovation. She was named the Greater Tucson Leadership Woman of the Year in 2016.

“Titles are only part of the story, a very small part of the story, really,” Street said of her many leadership positions. “Sometimes you lead from the front, sometimes you lead from the side, sometimes you lead from the back. I’ve been in all of those roles.”

Today, Street is leading a group of leaders, members of the Tucson community who are leaders themselves and who make up SALC, trying to have a positive and productive impact on the community across many fronts including education, infrastructure, health care, the economy and public policy.

“Cristie has a rare ability to earn the trust of leaders from every sector because she leads with credibility, curiosity and respect,” said SALC President and CEO Ted Maxwell. “The most effective leaders don’t need to be the loudest voice in the room. They help others see a path forward. Cristie excels at bringing together people with different priorities and perspectives and helping them find common ground around a shared vision.”

Street, who stepped into the CEO position when she co-founded Nextrio in 2002, said she recognizes that the leadership skills of that day are different from what defines the term today.

“Where sometimes people were brought together because of deep expertise in a particular area, now I think it’s more systems thinking and holistic, where you need to be able to bring experts together and have them work together,” she said. “I sit in a seat of partnership with everyone. This is where titles don’t really get you very much because we all equally have a piece of this organization on our shoulders so that we can get the policy work done.”