Merissa Hamilton's values are homegrown in Arizona, spending the summers here with her grandparents as a child. Shortly after graduation, she made Arizona her permanent home and has lived in Phoenix for nearly 20 years. Merissa is a business professional with over 19 years of leadership experience in the supply chain, food service, retail, grocery, and technology industries. She led national committees to create data standards transforming food safety and improving public health. With a strong commitment to helping her community, her work for over a decade has focused on helping girls in crisis pregnancies, women and their children in domestic violence, and helping those experiencing homelessness find permanency.

She led efforts at the Arizona legislature and the City of Phoenix to reform zoning laws to solve the crisis of working veterans experiencing homelessness and allow for the construction of affordable tiny home communities. As Chair of the Arizona Legislature sub-committee on Policing, she led a state-wide community policing reform model with Tucson, Tempe, and Goodyear Police Departments. Merissa is running for Mayor to bring smarter solutions to Phoenix. Her focus is on making Phoenix safe, protecting small businesses, fighting against City corruption, and bringing manufacturing back to Phoenix.