Chamber names annual Athena Leadership and Pathfinder awards winners

The Salt Lake Chamber has announced the recipients of its annual Athena Leadership Award and Pathfinder Awards, to be presented Nov. 15.

Dr. Donna Milavetz, chief medical officer at Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah, is the Athena recipient. The award is the organization’s highest recognition for women in business and is presented annually to an active member of the 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.

Derek Miller, president and CEO of the chamber, said Milavetz “is a true testament to what the Athena award stands for, going above and beyond to provide valuable service to those with whom she interacts, and improving the quality of life for so many. Her dedication to making a positive impact on our community inspires us all to strive for greater excellence, and we look forward to honoring her at this year’s awards ceremony.”

As Regence’s chief medical officer across a four-state footprint, Milavetz leads clinical strategy, program design and clinical policy. She has extensive clinical and business leadership experience in value-based care, preventive medicine and quality improvement.

Milavetz previously served as executive medical director at Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah and in vice president roles at Steward Health Care. Before that, she founded and led Onsite Care Inc., which operates primary care clinics at employer workplaces to improve employees’ access to healthcare.

Milavetz also sits on the board of directors for Jewish Family Service and the board of governors for the Salt Lake Chamber. She achieved her Doctor of Medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine and Master of Public Health at the University of Minnesota. She completed internal medicine residencies at the University of Minnesota and Beth Israel Hospital, Harvard University in Massachusetts.

The chamber will present Pathfinder Awards to six women who are community leaders “who create new paths promoting the development and recognition of women in business”: Utah Sen. Ann Millner; Kerry Norman, executive vice president of operations, CHG Healthcare; Liz Owens, CEO, YWCA Utah; Noella Sudbury, founder and CEO, Rasa Public Benefit Corp.; Diana Young, vice president of strategic partnerships, PrincePerelson & Associates; and Jessica Yurgaitis, CEO, Industrial Supply Co.

Millner represents Senate District 5, which includes parts of Davis, Morgan and Weber counties. In 2015, Millner was elected to the Senate, where she now serves as the majority whip and the chair of the Senate Ethics Committee. Millner also is a member of the National Conference of State Legislatures Foundation board of directors as well as various other legislative working groups with legislative leaders nationwide.

Millner was born in Middlesboro, Kentucky, and raised in Clarksville, Tennessee. She received a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Tennessee, a master’s from Southwest Texas State University and a doctorate from Brigham Young University. She is a Regents professor of health administration and was the president of Weber State University from 2002-12.

Norman leads a variety of business operations areas and oversees the enterprise portfolio of strategic initiatives for CHG. Norman is known as a talent developer and plays a large role in executive development and DEI efforts. Before joining CHG in April 2017, Norman spent 17 years at Capital Group Cos. in Los Angeles in a variety of HR leadership roles. Previously, she was a talent acquisition leader at FedEx, where she focused on hiring for all operations in their western region.

Norman started her career at Prudential Financial in their accelerated leadership development program. Norman holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Boston College and has participated in the executive leadership program at the Kellogg School of Management.

Owens has been CEO of the YWCA Utah since April 2020. She previously served as the executive director of the Utah Coalition Against Sexual Assault and has dedicated her career to gender and racial justice. Owens has expertise in domestic violence and the effects of trauma on individuals and families and approaches her work through the lens of understanding the intersecting issues and dimensions of identity.

Owens has taught sociology, social inequality and program planning courses at Utah Valley University, Salt Lake Community College and Westminster College. In addition, she previously worked at Women in Prison in London; the Utah Pride Center; the Utah Domestic Violence Coalition; Planned Parenthood Association of Utah and the Utah Coalition Against Sexual Assault, and has served on many boards and in volunteer positions in the community. Owens earned her Bachelor of Science at UVU and her Master of Arts in the Theory and Practice of Human Rights from the University of Essex in the United Kingdom. She was a visiting research fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science and is a presenter and instructor.

Sudbury followed a clerkship for Judge Ronald Nehring of the Utah Supreme Court by beginning her legal practice as a public defender, where she quickly developed a passion for criminal justice reform. In 2016, she was appointed by the Salt Lake County Council as the director of the Criminal Justice Advisory Council for the county. She went on to found Clean Slate Utah, a nonprofit to raise awareness of the automatic clearance law, and is the current CEO and founder of Rasa Public Benefit Corp.,, a new legal tech company that provides low-cost legal expungement services to people not eligible for automatic record clearance.

Sudbury graduated from the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law in 2009 and has received several honors and awards for her public service.

Young has years of HR and administrative experience. Over her 27-year tenure at PrincePerelson and Associates, she has served in various capacities, including director of business development, recruiter, vice president of Perelson Temporary Staffing and the current role of vice president of strategic partnerships. Young is involved in multiple business associations and committees, including the Salt Lake Chamber’s President’s Ambassadors and Business Women’s Forum Steering Committee, MountainWest Capital Network, Economic Development Corporation of Utah and ACG Utah Women’s Professional Network.

Yurgaitis is the CEO of 108-year-old Industrial Supply Co., a family-owned business in the Intermountain West founded by her great-grandfather in 1916. She is the first woman to lead the company. Under her leadership, the company has not only maintained its reputation for reliability and integrity but has also embraced new technologies and strategies to stay ahead in the competitive industrial distribution market. Yurgaitis serves on both the Affiliated Distributors Industrial Safety Division board and the Industrial Supply Association board of directors.

The awards will be presented during the 48th annual Women & Business Conference and Athena Awards Luncheon, set for Nov. 17, 8 a.m.-3:30 p.m. at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City. This year’s event theme is “I.L.L.U.M.I.N.A.T.E.” (inspiring leadership, learning, unity, motivation, innovation, networking, ambition, teamwork and empowerment).