The Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce has recognized its 2017 ATHENA award recipients, marking the 30th year for the awards that honor women who serve as pioneer leaders in the community.

Joining the past 50 ATHENA award recipients who have been honored over the past three decades are this year’s winners: Drena Kusari Berisha, general manager of Lyft’s Southwest Region; Michelle Just, president and CEO of the Beatitudes Campus; and Mi-Ai Parrish, president of Republic Media. 

“All the ATHENA women, I’m so impressed and inspired by you,” Berisha said during the awards ceremony. “I’m uplifted by the great work you’re doing in the Valley and beyond.”

Each year the Chamber presents the ATHENA awards to women who have shown their leadership and contributions to not only their work industry but also the community.

“The Athena Award made me think about Athena and how she so aptly represents one of the most powerful things about women,” Parrish in her acceptance speech. “She was the goddess of war and of wisdom. A contradiction that is meaningful and powerful and feminine.”