The Women’s Business Council of Marion, Ohio is one of a select number of cities to present The Athena Award of excellence in leadership to a woman of distinction each year. For many years, our organization has sponsored this national honor for a business and professional woman who exemplifies leadership and encouragement.
The award is presented to a woman who has demonstrated her passion to help other women reach their goals in business or community leadership. The Women¹s Business Council honors the nominees with a luncheon and beautiful sculpture for the final recipient.
The ATHENA Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating leadership opportunities for women. Established in East Lansing, Michigan, the Foundation administers the ATHENA® Award Program and additional programs designed to assist women in reaching their full leadership potential.
The ATHENA Award is intended to recognize outstanding business and professional women in the community and to create an environment where providing assistance, encouragement and mentoring to women would be uniquely valued. The ATHENA Foundation has come to embody the principles of a new kind of leadership reflected in far-reaching initiatives for the future.
The ATHENA Powerlink® Program helps women-owned business expand profitably through the use of volunteer professional advisory panels. The program links each participating business with a panel of professional advisors experts in their fields specifically recruited to meet the specific needs of that business.
The ATHENA Leadership Model articulates a philosophy of leadership and gives identity, credibility, visibility, and coherence to ATHENA perspectives on leadership. It was inspired by stories and experiences of thousands of ATHENA Award recipients and consists of eight tenets that guide leadership practice. The International ATHENA Conference, held annually, represents a professional development opportunity and features great speakers, informative workshops, and matchless networking opportunities.
