ATHENA Award®

The ATHENA Award® is presented to a woman or a man who is recognized for professional excellence, community service and for actively assisting women in their attainment of professional excellence and leadership skills.  Recipients are recipients for life.  The Women’s Council of Washtenaw County hosts the local award.   There are over 300 active award programs and more than 4,000 awards have been presented since 1982.  By honoring exceptional leaders, the Award Program seeks to inspire others to achieve excellence. 

To nominate someone for the ATHENA™ Award, please complete the nomination form and submit it to nominations@wcofwc.org. Nominations are accepted September through January.

The ATHENA Sculpture, created by sculptor Linda Ackley, was inspired by the dynamic goddess of Greek mythology known for her strength, courage, wisdom and enlightenment – qualities needed for leadership.   The marble base represents the recipient’s solid foundation.  The unique textures of the bronze differ on each sculpture, just as the life experiences of the recipients differ.  The cut crystal symbolizes the many facets of human character and the light emanating from the recipient.  The outstretched arms of this form express the celebration of achievement and reaching out to others.

The ATHENA Foundation is a non-profit corporation with a volunteer Board of Directors.  The ATHENA Foundation is dedicated to creating leadership opportunities for women.

• To fulfill our vision of achieving a representative balance of leadership.
• We will honor exceptional role models and their values, inspiring others to achieve excellence.
• We will develop educational programs to assist women in achieving their full leadership potential.
• We will cultivate leaders by giving women and men a road map to foster leadership development.  

For more information about the ATHENA Foundation:  www.athenafoundation.org.