25th Annual ATHENA Award

Thursday, January 20, 2011
Noon to 1:30 at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center
General Reception begins at 11am at the Empire Hall
VIP Reception for the 2011 ATHENA Finalists at the Convention
Center’s Riverside Court (by Invite ONLY)

The ATHENA Award®

The Athena Award, an international program with over 5000 recipients worldwide, was founded in 1982 to honor the achievements of exceptional women leaders, and by doing so inspire others to achieve excellence in their professional and business lives.

Introduced to Rochester in 1987 by Women's Council, an affiliate of the Rochester Business Alliance, the ATHENA award recognizes women who

  • demonstrate excellence, creativity and initiative in their business or profession,
  • provide valuable service by contributing time and energy to improve the quality of life for others in the community, and
  • actively assist women in realizing their full leadership potential

The ATHENA Leadership Model is a philosophy of leadership based on Women's unique ways of knowing and leading. Developed by the ATHENA Foundation in collaboration through a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the model identifies eight distinct attributes or tenets that are reflective of women's contributions to leadership:

  • Authentic Self
  • Relationships
  • Giving Back
  • Collaboration
  • Courageous Acts
  • Learning
  • Fierce Advocacy
  • Celebration and Joy.

These personal traits that are more intuitive to women, and combined with the strongest aspects of traditional leadership-taking risks, assertiveness, hard work-prepare women to be successful leaders in the 21st century.