Sandra Maaike Jayne Verschoor (born 25 April 1959) is an Australian businesswoman who was the Lord Mayor of Adelaide in South Australia from 12 November 2018 until November 2022. Prior to this, she was Deputy Lord Mayor and a General Manager at the City of Adelaide.

Early life and education

Verschoor is the second daughter of Dutch immigrants to Australia and grew up in Elizabeth. She has a Master of Arts, an MBA and a

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in Business Administration from

Kennedy Western University Warren National University, previously known as Kennedy-Western University, was an unaccredited private distance learning university that claimed to offer undergraduate and graduate degrees in the United States from 1984 to 2009. It has been de ...

Career

Verschoor worked in broadcasting and marketing in the early 1990s, and became marketing manager of the Adelaide Festival of the Arts in 1995 and Marketing & Development Director 1996-1999. As the Associate Director of Arts Projects Australia 2001 - 2006 she worked on WOMADelaide and helped establish the Adelaide Film Festival. She was CEO of the Adelaide Fringe from 2006 to 2010. In 2011, she became the executive producer of the Festival of Ideas. In 2012, Verschoor worked as general manager for the

Adelaide City Council The City of Adelaide, also known as the Corporation of the City of Adelaide and Adelaide City Council is a local government area in the metropolitan area of greater Adelaide, South Australia and is legally defined as the capital city of Sout ...

for three years before being elected to council at a by-election in 2015. She took up the role of Executive Producer of the Windmill Theatre in 2015 and CEO of the Adelaide Festival in 2016. From June 2017 to November 2018, she served as Deputy Lord Mayor for 18 months. After

Martin Haese Martin Kinnear Haese (born 22 October 1965) was the Lord Mayor of Adelaide in South Australia from 2014–2018. Haese is an educator and an entrepreneur, who founded the Youthworks fashion chain in 1993 and built the business into a national ch ...

decided not to run in the 2018 election, he endorsed Verschoor. Verschoor was elected Lord Mayor in November 2018, defeating lawyer Mark Hamilton and bookshop owner Kate Treloar. She served for four years, before being defeated in the November 2022 election by former politician and lord mayor Jane Lomax-Smith.

Personal life

Verschoor is married and has two daughters and a son.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Verschoor, Sandy Living people Mayors and Lord Mayors of Adelaide South Australian local councillors Women mayors of places in South Australia Australian Institute of Business alumni 1959 births Women local councillors in Australia Deputy mayors of places in Australia