Barbara Barrett receives Global Envoy Award from the Phoenix Committee on Foreign Relations
MAP Strategies Group CEO Mi-Ai Parrish (left) visits with former Ambassador to Finland and Secretary of the Air Force Barbara Barrett at the Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry 2018 Heritage Awards, where Barrett received the annual honor for her accomplishments and commitment to Arizona that are recognized nationally and internationally.
For her leadership bridging international communities and cultures, former Secretary of the Air Force and longtime Arizona resident and businesswoman Barbara Barrett tomorrow receives the first Global Envoy Award from the Phoenix Committee on Foreign Relations.
Barrett has deep ties to Arizona, dating back to her days as a student at Arizona State University, where she earned BS, Master of Public Administration and Juris Doctorate degrees before joining large Phoenix law firm Evans, Kitchel and Jenckes. She later became founding chair at Valley Bank of Arizona and led two Fortune 500 companies - all before age 30! She also is married to Craig Barrett, former CEO of Intel.
“Ms. Barrett is the ideal recipient of the inaugural Global Envoy Award,” MAP Strategies Group CEO Mi-Ai Parrish, who also represents Arizona during international trade and diplomacy functions. “She embodies the indelible Arizona spirit and energy with keen intellect and experience that few possess. I am thrilled that PCFR is acknowledging her contributions in such a public way.”
Barrett thrust onto the international stage in 2008 as the U.S. Ambassador to Finland under President George W. Bush, after two decades in the private sector, government affairs and academia, having most recently served as the chairwoman of The Aerospace Corporation of El Segundo, Calif.
An instrument-rated pilot, Barrett was the first civilian woman to land in an F/A-18 Hornet on an aircraft carrier, and in 2014 was inducted into the Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame.
Barrett also has served as a senior advisor to the U.S. Mission to the United Nations; is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations; and actively participates with the Global Leadership Foundation and the World Economic Forum. She has chaired the U.S. State Department's Women's Economic Empowerment Working Group, U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy and U.S. Secretary of Commerce's Export Conference.
Her varied business, science and public sector interests ultimately led to her lauded appointment to Secretary of the U.S. Air Force and Space Force in 2019, the 25th such position and only the fourth woman.
“I believe that PCFR is one of those great community institutions that makes us stronger,” Barrett says. ”There was a time when Phoenix wasn’t that international, but PCFR was always the place where leaders of the community from diverse backgrounds – from government and business and from academia – all people with an international interest, could come together and meet in a critical setting where we talk about policy issues and build enduring relationships.”
For more additional information, visit the Phoenix Committee on Foreign Relations Global Envoy Award page.