The Association for Women in Sports Media is proud to announce Kathy Kudravi is the 2024 recipient of the Ann Miller Service Award, presented annually to an individual who has made significant contributions to the organization.

Kudravi has been an AWSM member for more than 20 years. She served as secretary/treasurer, overseeing the group's finances and distribution of the printed directory and newsletter (before the group moved to its current digital format) and processed memberships. She also served as board chair, mentoring then-president Stefanie Loh and working to create partnerships with other media groups. She is a past Miller award finalist.

"In addition to playing an important role in helping secure AWSM's financial future, Kathy has been quick to offer support and mentor women throughout her career," said Iliana Limón Romero, AWSM president and Los Angeles Times assistant managing editor for sports. "She embodies the best of AWSM and we're pleased to honor her contributions to the organization."

Kudravi is an award-winning journalist, writer and communicator based in Phoenix. After a 13-year newspaper career as a writer and editor at the Myrtle Beach Sun News, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Nashville Tennessean and Fort Worth Star-Telegram, she joined ESPN. Kudravi spent 13 years directing ESPN news coverage, mostly as bureau chief working with the field reporters and producers, earning two Emmys. She also had two stints as a news editor at the network. In 2012 she took the editorial director role with CNN International’s sports team. At CNNI, she led a multinational newsgathering team and executive-produced four documentaries, including the 2013 Foreign Press Association’s Sport Story of the Year, “World Sport Presents: Branded a Rebel.”

Kudravi left CNN in 2014 and started a consulting firm in Atlanta. She helped launch American Sports Network in 2015. When ASN was shut down by the corporate owners, she worked for a variety of digital sports startups. 

In 2018, she moved to Phoenix to teach sports journalism at Arizona State’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications. Once that two-year program ended, she continued her media and communications consulting business with organizations including Chandler-Gilbert Community College and iCrossing. She is currently the executive director for campus communications and publications at the University of Arizona Health Sciences.

Kudravi joined AWSM in 1992 and quickly began volunteering at her second convention in Minnesota in 1993. She took over as secretary/treasurer upon award namesake Ann Miller’s retirement from the role and held the position for eight years. After a brief time away from the board, Kathy rejoined as chair of the executive committee in 2013 through 2016.

In December 2023, Kudravi earned a master of arts in communication from Arizona State University. She earned a bachelor of science in journalism-news from Kent State University. In September 2023, she was inducted into the Brooklyn (Ohio) City Schools Hall of Fame.

AWSM’s top award winners, including Kudravi, will be invited to speak during an AWSM digital event this fall and will be honored in person during the organization’s 2025 convention.