Bio: Tadia Rice
Tadia Rice
Tadia Rice is Vice-Chair of the Ethics Commission for the City and County of Honolulu. As a Commissioner she strives to advance the standards of ethical conduct to promote, improve and maintain public confidence in government. Her career includes multi-disciplinary business executive with more than 20 years of international experience in organizational dynamics, thought leadership, enterprise transformation, governance and ethics, cultural competence, indigenous resolution models, geo-political affairs, information security, social justice, gender issues, and expressive arts. In addition, Rice is an expert
contributor to magazines and industry publications, and a contributing author to several books on social justice, spirituality, and global gender issues. She has authored Performance for Incarcerated Women; Transforming Horror Into Hope: The Women of Rwanda; Artificial Intelligence: The Future Is Now; What’s Your Mindset: Gaunxi; Lead With Aloha; and more. Rice is also an on-air broadcaster, media personality, keynote speaker and performer who has appeared on television, radio, and in theatre productions. With a global network of strategic alliances Rice enjoys international influence while maintaining a passion for people and our world.
In 2023 Rice became an Award-winning film producer for her first documentary at the 2023 prestigious Cannes International Film Festival Shorts Award. She also garnered semi-finalist status at the Toronto International Women Film Festival. “BEYOND BARS: Prison Women Speak” is an observational film documentary executive produced by the Tahirih Association. The film shines light on a rarely seen, heard, and often misunderstood vulnerable population of incarcerated women in American. The film has been hailed as a beacon of light to currently incarcerated women and younger female adults who may be at-risk. The film provides a new perspective for viewers, and is a testament to Rice’s dedicated work to uplift women.
Rice founded the Tahirih Association in 2000. Since then it has fostered the advancement of women and girl change-makers around the world, providing education scholarships to 22 girls and women in six countries: Lakota/Oglala Nation (1); Liberia (10); Honduras (1); Namibia (1); South Africa (1); United States (8). The Association also supports a prison reentry program for formerly incarcerated women, and a safe house with a food sustainability program for women and their families in two impoverished communities in South Africa.
In 2023 Rice was recognized by the Hawai`i State legislature for her work uplifting women; in 2022 she received the Stars of Oceania Leadership Award from the University of Hawai`i; in 2017 she recieved the Medal of Honor from the prestigious Ellis Island Honors Society in New York City; and in 2016 she was inducted as a Dame Knight by the Orthodox Order of Saint John, a preeminent international relief organization. For her services to promote equality, women, communities of color, and marginalized peoples, Rice has been honored by the United States Congress; California State Senate; the City of Atlanta; the City and County of Honolulu; and the United Nations Association.
Rice currently serves on the Boards of the Tahirih Association, Oglala Sioux Tribal Film Commission, and the Princess of Africa Foundation. She is also a Citizen Diplomat of American Councils for International Education, and a member of the Society for Human Resource Management, National Speakers Association, NAACP-Honolulu Chapter, Hawai`i Womenʻs Prison Project, Honolulu Museum of Art African-American Film Festival, and the Kailua Hawaiian Civic Club.