Leslie DeReche hired as CFO for Paradise Valley

By MacKenzie Brower
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The Town of Paradise Valley has hired Tempe resident Leslie DeReche as its full-time chief financial officer.

DeReche began last week, Feb. 5, following former CFO Lindsey Duncan who filled the position for just over one year. Osuch Consulting started providing financial services to the town in May 2023 and as interim CFO in September 2023.

DeReche has worked in government since she graduated from Arizona State University with a degree in accounting. She started as an intern for the state of Arizona in 1999. After she earned her master’s degree in public administration, she worked for the city of Scottsdale as a senior financial analyst and finance manager for 10 years then finance director for the city of Apache Junction for three years.

The internship prompted DeReche to choose a career in government finance.

“I like being a public servant, and I like to feel like what I do connects to people, and I can see the impact of what I do on people,” DeReche said. “I feel like I’m doing something good.”

AS CFO, DeReche is looking forward to being able to use her experience and skills to help improve the processes, get more financial transparency and assist the town with reaching its goals.

Having been a neighbor to Paradise Valley for many years, DeReche is familiar with the community. A staff member reached out to tell her about the open position. She found that it fits her experience in Apache Junction, which is a small city that outsources a lot of services like solid waste, prefers limited government and doesn’t have a property tax — similar to Paradise Valley.

“What I like about Paradise Valley is that it’s a small community, and you’re really able to get to know everybody that works here,” DeReche said. “They all work close together. There’s no silos. So, you really get exposed to all different areas.”

MacKenzie Brower can be reached at mbrower@iniusa.org. We’d like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.

MacKenzie Brower
Lead News Reporter | Town of Paradise Valley mbrower@iniusa.org MacKenzie Brower has a Bachelor of Science in Journalism from Northern Arizona University and specializes in visual storytelling. She was previously the director of photography and Editor-in-Chief of The Lumberjack at NAU, breaking news intern for The Arizona Republic and column writer for FlagLive! MacKenzie studied abroad in Prague at the beginning of 2021, where she practiced landscape and portrait photography. She is passionate about protecting the world’s environment and human rights and hopes to inform social change through reporting. You can find her portfolio at mackenziebrower.photoshelter.com.