Phoenix, Arizona - Governor Doug Ducey announced the appointment of Malcolm Hightower to Director of the Residential Utility Consumer Office (RUCO), effective, May 10.
Hightower replaces Laurie A. Woodall, who served as Interim Director since mid-December.
“Malcolm’s years of leadership and commitment to serving communities in need make him a great fit to lead RUCO,” said Governor Ducey. “He will serve Arizona’s utility consumers well, and I look forward to working with him to ensure their needs are met. My thanks goes to Malcolm for stepping up to this role, and to Laurie for her dedicated leadership these last few months.”
Malcolm Hightower has spent 27 years working to improve the health, safety and well-being of children, families and communities. Most recently, he served as the Deputy Director of the Governor’s Office of Youth, Faith, and Family (GOYFF) where he was responsible for child well-being, juvenile justice, substance and physical abuse prevention, faith-based initiatives, and volunteerism.
He also facilitated and led implementation of the Arizona Management System (AMS) within GOYFF, where he helped develop and monitor outcome planning systems and key performance indicators to ensure safety and health of Arizonans.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to continue serving Arizonans and look forward to leading the team at RUCO,” said Hightower. “Thank you to Governor Ducey for appointing me to this new role — our team will take innovative measures to meet the needs of Arizona’s utility consumers.”
Prior to his work with GOYFF, Hightower worked in the Strategic Consulting arm of Casey Family Programs, a national operating foundation, to support safety and child and family well-being in local, state, tribal and national communities. Before that, Hightower spent six years as a social worker and case manager where he specialized in communities with primarily Native American and Black citizens.
Hightower received a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Master of Science in Public Administration both from Seattle University in Washington. He also has training from the Arizona Management System at the Arizona Government Transformation Office, and from the Casey Family Programs in Project Management Principles for Human Service Organizations.
RUCO was established by the Arizona Legislature to represent the residential utility ratepayers in rate-related proceedings involving public service corporations. RUCO intervenes and participates in rate cases involving Arizona’s largest utilities, with smaller companies decided on a case-by-case basis.