The role of CEO has evolved significantly over the last few decades, said Ashley Williams.
“CEOs are no longer expected to be an all-knowing oracle; rather, they are a conduit by which a company’s mission and vision are brought to fruition,” she said. “An inherent risk to this paradigm shift is the personal risk that CEOs may not be perceived as having the same level of control and decision-making power as they once did. However, I believe that this shift is necessary in order for organizations to thrive in a rapidly changing business landscape.”
Williams is CEO of Innova Emergency Medical Associates, an emergency medicine company founded in 2011 “on the principle that all communities, regardless of geographic or socioeconomic circumstances, deserve access to world-class emergency care,” the company said.
Each member of Innova’s executive team grew up in small towns where they saw firsthand the imbalance between the quality of care accessible in rural versus urban sites and subsequently made it the company’s mission to rectify the disparity and transform emergency medicine. Innova’s first contract was with a small critical-access hospital in Trinidad, Colorado. From there, the company expanded across Southern Colorado and into New Mexico, Arizona, Michigan and Indiana.
“Ashley, specifically, has a passion for elevating healthcare, particularly in rural and underserved communities,” the company said. “She is our CEO and has been instrumental in navigating national expansion and spearheading exponential growth, accomplishing a 2,600% increase in revenue since she began in 2014. She began as business manager and was quickly promoted to chief operating officer, president and then CEO.”
As a women-led and women-owned group, Innova aims for equity in its workforce, focusing on diversity in gender, ethnicity, age and cultural background, the company said. The company’s executive team is made up entirely of women and women, including women of color, fill more than 50% of its leadership positions.
Williams graduated from the University of Colorado in Boulder, majoring in biology and minoring in biochemistry. She obtained her Master of Business Administration from Portland State University and is pursuing her Ph.D. in business at the University of Denver.
Under Williams’ leadership, Innova was named a 2019 Colorado Company to Watch and was included in the 2020 Inc. 5000 list of America’s fastest growing privately held companies. She was named a 2019 Woman to Watch and a 2021 CEO of the Year Finalist, both by ColoradoBiz Magazine.
