Athena Salman is a champion for high quality education, sustainable jobs, and strong communities. As a native Arizonan and first generation American, Athena has worked hard to increase opportunities for all because of her strong belief that we all are responsible to one another.
Athena is the daughter of small business owners and hard working immigrants. Growing up, her parents placed a high value on education. As such, she became the first in her family to graduate from college, graduating Magna Cum Laude from Arizona State University with Bachelor of Science degrees in Economics and in Political Science.
Athena began organizing communities seven years ago in response to the severe budget cuts by the Arizona legislature. She served as a Senior Fellow for the Arizona Students’ Association, where she met with legislators on behalf of the public universities’ 120,000 students. Her advocacy played a critical role in forwarding one of the ASA’s main objectives: improving financial aid to vulnerable students. She also helped shape policy on a national level.
Later, Athena worked at a local hotel where she had advocated for her coworkers as a union shop steward. Additionally, she organized workers locally to support several community initiatives, including helping to register Latinos voters during the Adios Arpaio campaign.
Athena has had the privilege of working in the Girl Scout movement where she inspired rural communities to give their time and money to help empower girls to reach their potential. Athena now works for in the public sector to help drive awareness and support for early childhood development in the southeast valley.
In her downtime, Athena volunteers with the local alumnae chapter of her sorority, Omega Phi Alpha, National Service Sorority. She also enjoys hiking and reading about new ideas.
Given her rich experience, Athena Salman personally knows how communities all across Arizona pull together every day to support one another. Athena will build on this momentum as a strong champion for our families in the state House of Representatives.
NATIONAL VISIBILITY AWARD
State Representative Athena Salman is a recipient of the Visibility Award. Representative Salman made headlines this year when she offered a secular invocation in the Arizona House of Representatives. The Speaker of the House responded by publicly rebuking her invocation but Rep. Salman would not be silenced. Instead, she led by example and used the moment as an opportunity to make a powerful statement about the importance of religious freedom.