WATSONVILLE >> Leadership and the Pajaro Valley go hand in hand for Dori Rose Inda. In the past 20 years, she has headed organizations ranging from the Watsonville Law Center to Salud Para La Gente.

Now she has a new experience to add to a resume already packed with leadership experience: the new manager and CEO of the Santa Cruz County Fair.

Fair officials announced Inda as the organization’s new leader in a news release issued Monday. She will be tasked with leading the fair’s activities ahead of its September opening, and she takes the reins from Zeke Fraser who resigned as CEO in February due to medical and personal reasons after a year and a half in the position.

Inda has resided in Watsonville since 1993 and has worked for more than 20 years with different nonprofits and community-based organizations. In 2002, she founded the Watsonville Law Center — which provides free legal services to people with low incomes in the Central Coast — and served as its executive director until 2013, according to her LinkedIn profile. In 2012, she was named CEO of Salud Para La Gente, a nonprofit health care organization with clinics in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties.

Fair officials also highlighted other leadership roles of Inda’s, including serving as a social worker for homeless individuals and foster families, and helping prevent the closure of Watsonville Community Hospital.“Dori’s commitment to our community and her track record of strong, effective leadership made her the clear choice to lead the Fair into its next chapter,” Rachel Wells, president of the fair’s Board of Directors, said in a statement.

Inda, who holds degrees from UC Berkeley and the Santa Clara University School of Law, said in a statement that she was honored to serve as fair CEO, an institution she emphasized means a lot to the Pajaro Valley and surrounding region.

“The Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds is more than just the site of our beloved annual fair — it’s a vital community gathering place, a space for celebration, and a trusted resource in times of emergency,” she wrote. “I look forward to working with the Board, staff, and broader community to ensure it continues to serve and reflect the needs of Santa Cruz County for generations to come.”

Inda will assume her duties later this summer.

This year’s fair is Sept. 10-14. With the theme “Hay Bales, Piggy Tails, and Ewe,” the fair will feature its usual assortment of rides, food, live music, contests, animal exhibits and new activities such as wrestling matches by San Jose’s Pro Wrestling Revolution, a bilingual circus called It’s Showtime Circus and a freestyle motocross show.

For updates on the fair, go to SantaCruzCountyFair.com.