Sallie Clark

On November 13, 2017, Sallie Clark was appointed by President Donald J. Trump to serve as the State Director for USDA Rural Development in Colorado. 

Previously, Ms. Clark was elected to serve as an El Paso County Commissioner and represent District 3 from November 2004 to January 2018 where she served as Board Chair and Vice Chair.  Through her long standing relationships developed with Colorado Counties, Inc. (CCI) and the National Association of Counties (NACo), she has represented rural America.  In 2015, she was elected as President of NACo, and was the first Coloradan to have been elected as NACo president.  During this capacity, she also served on NACo’s Rural Action Caucus.  Active in NACo since 2005, Clark was a longtime member and subcommittee vice chair of the Justice and Public Safety Steering Committee. 

Clark's 2015-2016 Safe and Secure Counties Initiative was designed to enhance counties' capacity to protect public safety, support public health and human services, maintain roads and bridges and build local economies.

El Paso County was hit by two massive and deadly wildfires in 2012 and 2013. Clark focused her NACo leadership to collaborate with and educate other counties on the lessons her county has learned in the areas of emergency preparedness, response, recovery and communications.  

Clark was elected to serve as an El Paso County Commissioner in 2004 and re‐elected in 2008 and 2012. She has served as board chair and vice chair. She was the fourth woman to have been elected to the El Paso County Board of Commissioners and is the third woman to have served as board chair.

Clark has owned her own bed and breakfast business since 1986 and previously worked in the medical field.  

An avid user of social media technologies, Clark has won numerous awards for excellence in public and community service and has served in many state and local leadership positions, including the Colorado Commission on Criminal and Justice, the Colorado Child Welfare Allocation Committee and co‐chair of the Waldo Canyon Fire Recovery Group.  

Clark and her husband, Welling, have been married since 1985. She enjoys hobbies such as cooking, hiking, biking, horseback riding, tennis, golf and reading.