City of Phoenix hiring more women and adding them to executive ranks

When Inger Erickson began working in 1988 as a lifeguard at the Coronado Pool, the leadership within the department was almost completely male. Erickson worked her way up through the Phoenix Parks and Recreation department, climbing the ranks from lifeguarding and teaching swimming, to coordinating sports teams, to moving into supervisory roles. In December 2015, she became the director of the department. "It's a complete change from when I started," Erickson said. "When I started in my own department most of the leadership were men and there was, like, one woman. Now it's slipped almost the other direction." Erickson is part of the growing number of women in top executive positions with the city of Phoenix. Forty-eight percent of the executive positions in the city of Phoenix are filled by women, with City Manager Ed Zuercher hiring 19 female executives since October 2013. "I wouldn't say it was specifically to hire more women, but it's a push to be open to the best candidate wherever they come from," he said. "In the past we've been accused of being insular and kind of looking within."