Honoring women who excel and strive towards the highest level of professional accomplishment, the ATHENA Awards aims to recognize women who have made a profound impact in their community and who have inspired other professionally driven women. As a long-time sponsor and supporter of the Athena Awards, Ideas Collide is committed to empower and supporting female leaders in the workplace and beyond.
From within the workplace walls through initiatives like Leading Forward – a training and development program –, the newly launched Women’s Empowerment + Allyship group, to supporting community events like the Athena Awards. Ideas Collide values the growth and success of women across all community and business industries.
Ideas Collide has had long ties with the Athena Awards, including two Ideas Collide team members being recipients; Rebecca Clyde – Co-founder of Ideas Collide, Founder of Botco.ai and 2016 recipient along with Mi-Ai Parrish – CEO of MAP Strategies Group, Professor for Media Innovation + Leadership at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, and 2018 recipient.
Meet Mi-Ai Parrish
Describe the importance of having the Athena Awards in our community.
MP: I was a supporter of the program without any thought that I’d ever be recognized. Having the work of remarkable women recognized is valuable but even more so, being in a community that shows such respect for their work is inspirational. The program creates a community of women and allies who support and lift each other up.
You were honored in 2018. What did that honor mean to you then and what does it mean to you now?
MP: I’ve said it was the most personally meaningful award of my career for many reasons. I am still astonished to be honored among such accomplished women, and to have been nominated by women who worked for me still gives me the feels. It continues to be a part of my personal and professional life. I seek to honor it by living up to the ideals and paying it forward to others.
The Athena Awards focuses on leadership, mentorship and community – how do you get to demonstrate those qualities in your profession?
MP: It’s an everyday effort to walk the walk. I seek to do this in every aspect of my life, whether I’m teaching, working with clients, selecting where I spend my time in the community, and the kinds of relationships I build.
What advice or guidance do you have for young female professionals?
MP: I tell them to raise your hand for new opportunities, reach out to help others around you, be a kind human, and have integrity at the heart of all you do.
As a female leader, what barriers have you overcome to get to where you are now? What barriers are still present for women in leadership?
MP: There are cultural and historical impediments for women that vary depending on the industry. These are particularly the case for women of color, most starkly for Latinas. The research is clear in terms of access to opportunity, in pay disparities and promotions.
Do you have any media recommendations – books, websites, podcasts, etc – that focus on female leadership and professionalism for others to dive into?
MP: I love “How I Built This” as an entrepreneur and creator. A recent book that isn’t focused on female leadership but was profound for me as a leader devoted to positive societal transformation is Heather McGhee’s “The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Us and How We Can Prosper Together.”
About Mi-Ai Parrish
Mi-Ai Parrish leads Arizona State University Media Enterprise, is the chairwoman of Poynter Institute Board of Directors, vice-chairwoman of Banner Foundation Board of Directors, secretary of Greater Phoenix Leadership, and serves on the boards of the Associated Press, Common Sense Media, the O’Connor Institute for American Democracy, The 19th* News, Arizona Community Foundation, and others. She’s served four times as a Pulitzer Prize juror.
Ms. Parrish served as president and publisher of The Arizona Republic/AZCentral.com and market president at USA Today Network, where the team won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for “The Wall,” a multi-layered, multi-media examination of the southern border with Mexico. Prior to The Arizona Republic/USA Today Network, Ms. Parrish held similar leadership roles at the Kansas City Star, and (Boise) Idaho Statesman, and an array of newsroom roles at (Minneapolis) Star-Tribune, the San Francisco Chronicle, among others. Parrish was the first Korean-American publisher in mainstream media, first BIPOC publisher in Idaho, Kansas City and Phoenix, and first woman publisher in Kansas City. She continues work in diversity and inclusion in media, the weaponization of information, and coverage of justice and equity.
She holds a Bachelor of Science in journalism from the University of Maryland, College Park.
Meet Rebecca Clyde
An inspiration to Ideas Collide and the local Arizona business community, Rebecca Clyde embodies many values held by Ideas Collide, including the commitment to furthering the professional development of women by providing educational advancement opportunities and community support.
Learn more about Rebecca, including her 2016 Athena Awards honor.
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Ideas Collide strives to support women in business and to provide advancement opportunities whenever possible. Join our diverse team and become a part of a culture and business that creates, innovates and drives results.