AZBio Board of Directors
Joan Koerber-Walker, President and CEO
Arizona Bioindustry Association, Inc. (AZBio)
As President and CEO of AZBio, Joan Koerber-Walker works on behalf of the Arizona Bioscience and Medical Technology Industry to support the growth of the industry, its members and our community on the local and national level. Ms. Koerber-Walker is also a life science investor and has served on the boards of numerous for-profit and non-profit organizations.
The Arizona Bioindustry Association (AZBio) is a not-for-profit, 501(c)6 trade association supporting the growth of Arizona’s life science sector.
AZBio Member Organizations in the fields of business, research and education, health care delivery, economic development, government, and other professions involved in the biosciences are the key drivers of the growth of Arizona’s life science sector. As the unified voice of our industry in Arizona, AZBio strives to make Arizona a place where bioscience organizations can grow and succeed.
AZBio works nationally and globally with the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed), the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), the Medical Device Manufacturers Association (MDMA), the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), and leading patient advocacy organizations.
Through these relationships, AZBio has access to information, contacts, resources, cost saving programs, and the global bioscience and medtech community.
In the life science industry, Ms. Koerber-Walker serves as as Arizona’s representative to the State Medical Technology Alliance (SMTA), a consortium of state and regional trade associations representing their local medical technology companies which she chaired in 2015 and represents Arizona as a member of the Council of State Bioscience Associations (CSBA) and the Coalition of State Bioscience Institutes (CSBI).
Active in the entrepreneurial and investment communities, she also serves as Chairman of the Board of the Opportunity Through Entrepreneurship Foundation which provides entrepreneurial education, mentoring and support to at-risk members of the community, on the Board of Advisors to CellTrust, Inc. which provides secure communication technology to the healthcare industry, and as Chairman of CorePurpose, Inc. which she founded in 2002.
Ms. Koerber-Walker has been recognized as Executive of the Year by the Arizona Society of Association Executives, as a “Most Admired Leader” by the Phoenix Business Journal(2015), in the pages of AZ Business Leaders (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023), Most Influential Women in Arizona Business (2014) and is a 2 time National Finalist for the Stevie Award which recognizes the work of women in business.
Her past experience includes two years as the CEO of ASBA (the Arizona Small Business Association), service as a member of the Board of Trustees of the National Small Business Association in Washington D.C., President of the National Speakers Association/Arizona, Chair of the Board of Advisors to Parenting Arizona, the state’s largest child abuse prevention organization, as a member of the Executive Committee of the Industry Advisory Board for the Thomas and Joan Read Center at Texas A&M University, on the Board of Directors of the Arizona Technology Council, as Treasurer and Board Member for RiboMed Biotechnologies, Inc. and as an executive at Avnet, Inc, where, for over a 20 year, span she held a wide variety of roles in sales, marketing, technology, supply chain management, and global administration.