John Chan

John Chan is a Deputy City Manager with the City of Phoenix. He currently oversees the Community and Economic Development, Phoenix Convention Center and Parks and Recreation departments, the Office of Innovation, and City Major Events.

During his 30-plus year career with the organization, he has held executive management positions in the Downtown Development Office, Community and Economic Development Department, Phoenix Convention Center, and City Manager’s Office. Prior to his current assignment, he was the Director of the Phoenix Convention Center where he managed of one of the top convention center venues in North America. Under his leadership, Phoenix has hosted many of the largest conventions and trade shows in the city’s history.  He is also responsible for the planning, coordination, and hosting of major events for the city which included NFL Super Bowls, NCAA Final Fours, College Football Championship, MLB, NBA, and WNBA All-Star Games.         

Before his management of the convention center, John was responsible for leading the city’s economic development initiatives and programs including business attraction, retention and expansion, and workforce development.  His accomplishments as an economic development practitioner include working directly with major employers such as USAA, Charles Schwab, and American Express to locate, expand, and create thousands of high-quality jobs in Phoenix. He was also responsible for overseeing the city’s downtown redevelopment efforts. He facilitated millions in public/private investment including the planning and development of the ASU Downtown Phoenix Campus, Phoenix Biomedical Campus, the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown hotel, and mixed-use development projects such as Collier Center and CityScape.