Salt Lake City—The Salt Lake Chamber has announced that Amanda Covington, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer of The Larry H. Miller Company, will receive the 2023 ATHENA Leadership Award. The organization’s highest recognition for women in business, the national ATHENA Leadership Award, is presented annually to an active member of the Salt Lake Chamber who demonstrates excellence, creativity and initiative in business. Each recipient must also provide valuable service by devoting time and energy to improve the quality of life for others in the community and assist women in reaching their full leadership potential.

“I am excited to announce Amanda Covington as the ATHENA Leadership Award recipient,” said Derek Miller, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber. “Her commitment to the community through her professional life and volunteer work is emblematic of what this award stands for, leadership in action. Amanda has been a stalwart ally and wise counselor for many years and possesses the character other leaders can aspire to and model for years to come. The business community and our capital city are better for her service, and we are excited to honor her at this year’s awards ceremony!”

In addition to the ATHENA Leadership Award, five women will receive Pathfinder Awards at the conference. The Pathfinder Awards are presented annually to community leaders who create new paths promoting the development and recognition of women in business. The five Pathfinder recipients this year include:

• Lucy Cardenas, President & Owner, The Red Iguana Restaurants
• Natalie El-Deiry, Director of Immigration & New American Integration, Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity
• Kaitlin Eskelson, President & CEO, Visit Salt Lake
• Deneiva Knight, External Affairs Director, Comcast
• Pauline Ploquin, President & Partner, Struck

The ATHENA Leadership Award will officially be presented to Amanda Covington at the 47th Annual Women & Business Conference and ATHENA Awards Luncheon on November 2, 2023, at the Grand America Hotel. This year’s conference is sponsored by Dominion Energy and WCF Insurance. Wells Fargo is hosting the ATHENA Awards Luncheon. Mountain America Credit Union, SelectHealth and Target River are breakout sponsors, and the exhibit hall sponsor is CHG Healthcare. Gift sponsor is Holland & Hart, and the supporting sponsors are CBRE, Deseret Digital Media, Deseret Management Corporation, Intermountain Health, The Larry H. Miller Company, PCF Insurance Services, Rio Tinto Kennecott, Rocky Mountain Power, University of Utah and Zions Bank. Sponsorship opportunities are still available and added weekly until sold out.

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ATHENA Leadership Awardee bio below:

Amanda Covington, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer

Amanda Covington is chief corporate affairs officer for the Larry H. Miller Company. She previously served as senior vice president of communications and government relations for Vista Outdoor Inc. Amanda has more than 20 years of experience leading corporate communications and government relations strategies impacting financial communications, crisis communications, domestic and international media/public relations, corporate branding and advertising, digital media, employee relations, public policy and legislation, industry associations, and community relations.

Prior to Vista Outdoor, Amanda served as vice president of corporate communications for ATK, an aerospace, defense and commercial products company. Before joining ATK, she was the assistant commissioner for public affairs at the Utah System of Higher Education. While there, she led communications and legislative relations strategies for the State Board of Regents. She also served as the deputy for communications and spokesperson for Utah Governor Olene S. Walker and the director of communications for the Utah Department of Transportation. She has a background in broadcast journalism, working for Utah’s NBC and ABC affiliates.

Amanda serves on the Utah Board of Higher Education, is an executive board member for the Utah Women’s Leadership Institute, is on the advisory boards for First Lady Abby Cox’s ShowUp Utah! initiative and The Policy Project, and serves on the board of directors for the Salt Lake Chamber. Amanda also served as a trustee for Weber State University and Davis Technical College.

She is a graduate of the University of Utah with a bachelor’s degree in mass communication from the Honors College and a Master of Public Administration. Amanda enjoys spending time with her husband, two sons, and two dogs.

ABOUT THE SALT LAKE CHAMBER
The Salt Lake Chamber is Utah’s largest and longest-standing business association. A statewide chamber of commerce with members in all 29 Utah counties, the Chamber represents the broad interests of the state’s 63,000-plus employers, which employ more than 1.4 million Utahns. This includes thousands of Chamber members and their employees. With roots that date back to 1887, the Chamber stands as the voice of business, supports its members’ success and champion’s community prosperity.

ABOUT THE ATHENA LEADERSHIP AWARD

The ATHENA Leadership Award is a prestigious national award presented annually to an active member of the Salt Lake Chamber who demonstrates excellence, creativity and initiative in business, provides valuable service by devoting time and energy to improve the quality of life for others in the community, and assists women in reaching their full leadership potential.

Established in 1982 in Lansing, Michigan, the ATHENA Award ®Program is now administered from its Chicago, Illinois headquarters and boasts over 300 active communities in the United States, Canada, China, Russia and the United Kingdom. More than 5,000 individuals representing a wide variety of professions and businesses have received the ATHENA Award. Presented by local host organizations in partnership with ATHENA’s national underwriters, local businesses and individual sponsors the award practically demonstrates the quote from Plato, “What is honored in a country will be cultivated there.” The award takes the form of a hand-cast bronze sculpture symbolizing the strength, courage and wisdom of the recipient.