Charisse Richards

As Project Consultant, Charisse Richards is consulting with DES on their multi-year Client Portal initiative, designed to centralize and simplify interactions for DES clients across 19 different client-facing systems. DES is the largest agency within the State of Arizona.  Richards recently served as Chief Information Officer for the Judicial Branch of Arizona in Maricopa County, the country’s 4th largest court system, from 2019 to 2023. She led the transformation and delivery of IT solutions to provide the community access to the Court’s services for the county’s 4.4 million citizens. During her tenure, the Court was nationally recognized for implementing several innovative solutions supporting Criminal Justice and Public Safety during the COVID pandemic. Richards has more than 25+ years of infrastructure and operations experience and has held senior leadership roles in the Data Center, Hospitality, and Government industries. Previously, she led IT strategy as Chief Information Officer for IO Data Centers and Vice President of Global Integration for Iron Mountain Data Centers. At Choice Hotels International, her team designed the infrastructure for ChoiceADVANTAGE©, the hospitality industry’s first cloud-based property management system. In 2018, Charisse was identified as one of the TOP 5 Most Influential Women in the Data Center Industry and #9 of the Top 50 Women Leaders of Arizona for 2022 by Women We Admire. Charisse has served as Diversity and Inclusion Co-Chair and Advisory Council member for Infrastructure Masons, and has collaborated with Girl Scouts, Google, Arizona’s state universities, and various professional organizations on diversity and inclusion in STEM. Richards earned an MBA from Arizona State University with a concentration in supply chain management