Ginger Hardage

Ginger Hardage retired as Senior Vice President of Culture and Communications at Southwest Airlines after 25 years, where she served as a member of the CEO’s executive leadership team. At Southwest, Hardage led a team of 150 people responsible for building and sustaining the organization’s legendary culture and communications enterprise. She is recognized as a global authority on building and sustaining organizational culture.

In 2017, Hardage launched "Unstoppable Cultures," a brand designed to help organizations create and sustain cultures of enduring greatness. Hardage was responsible for the activities at Southwest that nourished the culture and the internal and external communications function. Hardage was a tireless ambassador of the world-famous Southwest Culture, leading to honors such as being a perpetual standout on FORTUNE’s “Most Admired Companies in the World” list. She helped champion the values, purpose, and “Best Place to Work” initiatives at the nation’s largest airline.

Hardage has received numerous honors throughout her career, including induction into the Public Relations Hall of Fame and being named as one of Texas’ Most Powerful and Influential Women. She received the prestigious Larry Foster Award for Integrity in Public Communication from the Arthur W. Page Society and was named “Legendary Communicator” by Southern Methodist University. PRWeek has named her multiple times to its Top 50 Power list and 50 Most Powerful Women in Public Relations. She was also honored with the Legacy Award from the Plank Center for Leadership and selected for the James C. Bowling Executive-In-Residence Lecture Series at the University of Kentucky.

Hardage currently serves as Global Chairman of the Board for Ronald McDonald House Charities. In Dallas, she serves on the board of The Trinity Park Conservancy and was a past president of the Trinity Commons Foundation. Hardage previously held various advisory board positions, including with Novartis in Basel, Switzerland; The Page Society; Business Civic Leadership Center, an affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; Big Brothers and Sisters of Metropolitan Dallas; Southwest Cares; and the Council of Public Relations Firms.

Hardage earned a B.A. in advertising/public relations from Texas Tech University and was recognized as an outstanding alumna by the College of Mass Communications at Texas Tech University.

Hardage lives in Dallas, TX, and Santa Fe, NM with her husband, Kelly.