President and CEO, The Sandy Smoley Group  

After 31 years in government, Sandy Smoley moved to the private sector as a healthcare and local and state government consultant. Her company is the Sandy Smoley Group, where she is president and CEO. 

She was secretary of the California Health and Welfare Agency, where she managed an agency that employed more than 42,000 employees and had a total budget of $48.4 billion. She oversaw 12 state departments and one board. She was also secretary of the

State and Consumer Services Agency, where she managed an agency with 16,000 employees and a $700 million budget with 14 departments and 38 boards and bureaus.

Both of these appointments were under Gov. Pete Wilson. 

In 1972, Smolley was elected to the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors, the first woman ever to serve on that body. She served more than 20 years on the board. She has been a presidential appointee to three major commissions: the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (1983-1991), the Task Force on Food Assistance (1983-84), and the Advisory Commission on Federalism (1981-82). She represented county government at both the state and national capitols as president of the California State Association of Counties and the National Association of Counties. 

A registered nurse, Smoley received her degree in nursing from the University of Iowa.

She is a graduate of the Senior Executive Training Program for State and Local Government at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. She has also done graduate work in economics and management at California State University at Sacramento. 

A native of Iowa, Smoley is married to Walter W. Rohrer. They have three children. 

Related Posts