When attorney Lisa Briggs took a year off from corporate life after the birth of her second child, she assumed she also would resign from the board of the San Diego County Taxpayers Association.

Not only did the board want her to stay, it asked her to become the association’s executive director — the first woman in that role in its 58-year history. The executive director is the primary interface between membership, elected officials and the public to ensure an effective and efficient local government.

“The association tries to work on issues that have a direct impact on the public’s lives,” says Briggs, 38. “We select issues that involve quality of life, transportation, budgets of cities and schools. It’s a broad spectrum of issues, which is what makes it interesting.”

An example is the association’s endorsement of Proposition MM, an initiative citizens passed in the late 1990s to allocate funds to repair deteriorating city school buildings. “As a board, we debated what needed to be done and set up a criteria the initiative had to fulfill,” she says. “When the initiative met the criteria, not only did we endorse it, we helped in implementing it.”

This approach suits Briggs’ proactive law background. “I approach things from a very factual standpoint,” explains the Rancho Penasquitos resident. “I want to see both sides and bring a balanced approach. The challenge is that you can’t please everyone. But if you present the facts in a balanced, professional manner, everyone wins.”

Balance is something she tries to maintain in all facets of life. She places her family first when making career decisions and also volunteers as chair-elect of the Senior Community Centers of San Diego. At work, her goal is to focus on the county as a whole, rather than as individual cities.

“I’m very happy here,” she says. “I love what I’m doing because it’s fascinating.”

— Patricia Morris Buckley