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Athia Hardt is the firm's primary strategist in public outreach and media planning and implementation.
She brings her clients experience in communications, government and related fields, including communications strategy and execution, development of responses and position papers, training sessions for speakers and grassroots outreach. A former news reporter for "The Arizona Republic," she also effectively assists clients through writing and editing speeches and articles. As a reporter, she wrote about health, welfare, education, legislation and politics during a seven-year period with the newspaper. Her writing ability and knowledge of Arizona led "The New York Times" to choose her as its Arizona stringer for more than 10 years.
Athia combines her writing skills with an interest in politics. She was a key adviser (and the first woman press secretary in Arizona) in Governor Bruce Babbitt's administration. She left Governor Babbitt's office a year after the birth of her first child and freelanced for several years in public relations, authoring Phoenix: America's Shining Star, an economic development book about the city of Phoenix, and Arizona Waterline, a collection of essays about Arizona water problems.
In 1988, she served Arizona once again, as a member of the transition team of Governor Rose Mofford. She later became an aide to Phoenix Mayor Terry Goddard, assigned with building community support for difficult projects. From 1990 through 2006, she was partner/president of Hardt and Junck Associates, Inc., a leading Phoenix media relations and government relations firm. Today, she owns and operates Hardt and Associates Public Affairs.
Working with Governor Rose Mofford
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An Arizona native, Athia has been an active member of a number of communications organizations and previously served as president of two--the Society of Professional Journalists, Sigma Delta Chi, Valley of the Sun Chapter, and the Arizona Press Club. She was invited to join Sigma Delta Chi the first year women were admitted to the organization and has been a member ever since, supporting its Freedom of Information efforts.
She has been a member of the Advisory Council to the Governor's Office for Children, president of Friends of the Phoenix Public Library, and a member of Charter 100, the Encanto Carousel Fund, Inc., the Mayor's Drug Abuse Task Force, the Arizona Kidney Foundation Board and the Phoenix Arts District Committee. She was admitted to the Hall of Fame of the ASU College of Communications and is the only non-lawyer member of the Ninth Circuit Public Information and Community Outreach Committee.
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