Wayne County ATHENA Leadership Awards will accept nominations beginning today (May 6) for its ATHENA Leadership Award, ATHENA Young Professional Award, and the ATHENA Organizational Leadership Award.

Nominations will close at 5 p.m. on Friday, June 17. Nomination forms are available at waynecoathena.com.

All ATHENA award recipients will be announced before the dinner.

The awards will be presented at the annual dinner at 6 p.m. on Thursday, August 18, at Forest Hills Country Club, located at 2169 South 23rd St. in Richmond, Indiana.

The ATHENA Leadership Award® will be presented to an exemplary leader who has achieved excellence in their business or profession, served the community in a meaningful way and, most importantly, actively assisted women to achieve their full leadership potential. The event recognizes women leaders who motivate, inspire and create positive change in the community. Previous award recipients include Mary Jo Clark, Jackie Carberry, Kim Poinsett, Angie Dickman, Janis Buhl-Macy, and Melissa Vance.

The ATHENA Young Professional Leadership Award actively supports and celebrates the ATHENA mission of supporting, developing and honoring women leaders, inspiring women to achieve their full potential—creating balance in leadership worldwide. ATHENA Young Professional Leadership Nominees are 18-35 years age. Nominees are emerging women leaders who demonstrate excellence, creativity and initiative in their business or profession. Provides valuable service to improve the quality of life for others in their community. Clearly serves as a role model for young women both personally and professionally. Previous award recipients include Jessie Pilewski and Ashley Sieb.

This is the first year the ATHENA Organizational Leadership Award will be presented in Wayne County. The award actively supports and celebrates the ATHENA mission of supporting, developing and honoring women leaders, inspiring women to achieve their full potential—creating balance in leadership worldwide. ATHENA organizational nominees are business or organizations, in the profit or non-profit sectors – who create an organizational culture that encourages women employees to achieve their full leadership potential or gives back to the larger community of women and girls by providing and/ or supporting leadership development opportunities and initiatives.

Founded over 30 years ago, ATHENA International is a women’s leadership organization that supports, develops and honors women leaders through the programs it administers. ATHENA’s flagship program, the ATHENA Leadership Award® Program, has honored over  7,000 women leaders from hundreds of cities and eight countries since its inception in 1982. The program is facilitated locally by Wayne Bank and Indiana University East, licensed ATHENA host organizations. Nominations are sought throughout the community and recipients are selected by a diverse group of community leaders based on the criteria above.

ATHENA Leadership Award® recipients hail from all professional sectors. The award’s rich history, international scope and emphasis on mentorship make this award unique and amongst the most prestigious leadership awards one can receive.

Wayne Bank and Indiana University East are honored to bring this award to Wayne County, established locally in 2014. ATHENA Leadership Award® recipients are presented a hand-cast, bronze and crystal sculpture that symbolizes the strength, courage and wisdom of ATHENA recipients.

Local sponsorship is provided by Wayne Bank and IU East. Proceeds benefit local organizations dedicated to serving leadership building for women of all ages.

To RSVP visit waynecoathena.com or contact JoAnn Spurlock, vice president, director of operations at Wayne Bank, at (765) 259-0209 or jspurlock@waynebnk.com or Paula Kay King, director of Gift Development at IU East, at (765) 973-8331 or pkayking@iue.edu.

ATHENA Leadership Awards Nomination Process
Wayne County ATHENA Leadership Awards will present three awards this year:

• ATHENA Leadership Award
• ATHENA Young Professional Award
• ATHENA Organizational Leadership Award, a new award added for 2022.
• Nominations are open from May 6 to June 17.
• All ATHENA award recipients will be announced before the dinner.
• Recipients will be presented with ATHENA awards during the annual dinner at 6 p.m. on Thursday, August 18, at Forest Hills Country Club, located at 2169 South 23rd St. in Richmond, Indiana.
• The community is invited to submit their nominations at waynecoathena.com.