Cecilia Mata

Owner, AllSource Global Management

By Christy Krueger

Cecilia Mata’s compassionate nature and ability to see the positives in a situation have led her down a path filled with opportunity. 

Her parents were entrepreneurs who taught her the importance of a higher education. After earning a bachelor’s degree in business administration and an MBA in her home country of Panama, Mata worked for multinational companies. “I got to know the world in a different perspective,” she said.

She moved to Arizona in 2000 when her former husband was stationed at Fort Huachuca. “When I came here, I was starting from scratch,” she said, first working at the University of Arizona’s Sierra Vista campus and then for Cochise County Workforce Development, where she became deputy director in three years.

Mata formed AllSource Global Management in 2005, a professional and technical services company whose clients include the U.S. Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps and defense contractors such as General Dynamics, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman.

In 2013, Lea Márquez Peterson, then-executive director of Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, recruited Mata to mentor the organization’s members.

“I worked to help small businesses learn how to do business with the federal government – it’s complex,” Mata said. “We created a procurement committee and found different ways to bring liaisons between business and government and learn how the government programs work,” especially as related to women and minority-owned and veteran-owned businesses.

In August 2020, she received an unexpected phone call with news that Gov. Doug Ducey wanted to appoint her to the Arizona Board of Regents. “Governor Ducey was looking for someone with strong business acumen, leadership and passion for community involvement,” Mata said. She was confirmed for an eight-year term.

 “Arizona’s universities are engines of growth providing students of all backgrounds the means to achieving a more promising future,” Mata said. 

While working as a regent, Mata became friends with Brig. Gen. Ron Shoopman, who was impressed with her from the start. “Cecilia is a real asset to the regents and the community,” he said. “She’s super sharp, works hard and is thoughtful. We have so many students from other countries and she understands that perspective.”

Shoopman credits Ducey for recognizing Mata’s potential. “She brings flair to our community and she deserves this kind of recognition.”