ATHENA International Leadership Awards Breakfast
Join Us
Friday, MAR 7, 2025 | 7:30 AM | Water's Edge Event Center
The ATHENA Foundation is dedicated to creating leadership opportunities for women. The prestigious ATHENA Awards Program recognizes individuals on local, national, and international levels.
Keynote Speaker
Ranger Angela Crenshaw, Director, Maryland Park Service
The ATHENA Awards
The ATHENA Leadership Award® is presented to an individual or organization who demonstrates the qualities embodied in the ATHENA Leadership Model and who:
- Has achieved the highest level of professional excellence.
- Contributes time and energy to improve the quality of life for others in the community.
- Actively assists others, particularly women, in realizing their full leadership potential.
FINALIST - Amber Shrodes, Director of Philanthropy and Community Engagement, Harford County Public Library
- Angela Rose, President & CEO, Harford County Chamber of Commerce
- Angela Sheldon, Lead Associate, Booz Allen Hamilton
- Melynda Velez, Executive Director, LASOS (Linking All So Others Succeed)
- Vickie Bands, Director, Community Outreach and Health Improvement, University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health
The ATHENA Young Professional Leadership Award® was established in 2007 to honor emerging leaders who exemplify the ATHENA Award principles.
FINALIST
- April Cheatham, Director of Community and Business Relations, Extreme Family Outreach
- Ashley Mintzer, Branch Manager, Harford Bank
- Chanel Kelly, Program Manager/Director, Tenax Technologies
- Lauren Beward, Business Development Manager, Bravura Information Technology Systems, Inc.
The ATHENA Organizational 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.
FINALIST
- 755 Alliance, BangTam Miller, President and Founder
- Homeward Bound Veterinary Services, Dr. Kristen Vance, Director
- Rodier Family Law, Samantha Rodier, Managing Partner
- The Arc Northern Chesapeake Region, Shawn Kros, President & CEO
Sponsors
PRESENTING SPONSOR
ATHENA YOUNG PROFESSIONAL LEADERSHIP AWARD
ATHENA ORGANIZATIONAL AWARD
FINALIST RECOGNITION
PLATINUM SPONSORS
GOLD SPONSORS
The Arc Northern Chesapeake Region
Harford County Government, Bob Cassilly
SILVER SPONSORS
CPWN
Elegant Restoration
Emerald Builders
Har-Co Credit Union
Palumbo Insurance Associates
Rosedale Federal Savings & Loan Association
755 Alliance
BRONZE SPONSORS
C3 Visionary Strategies
Harford Family House
Hill Tech
The John Carroll School
MidAtlantic Photographic
Peak Partners
Eric & Stacey Rebbert
Angela Sheldon
TENAX Technologies
Women's Giving Circle
Sponsorship Opportunities
Contribution $1,000 | Tax deductible amount = $875, FMV = $125
- 5 seats at the ATHENA Leadership Award Breakfast
- Full-page ad (4.5”w x 7.5”h) in the event program
- Recognition on event signage
- Recognition in press releases and marketing materials, including mass email blasts
- Listing with link to your organization on the event website
Contact Jen Palinkas
443.412.2428 | Email: jpalinkas@harford.edu
Contribution $750 | Tax deductible amount = $650, FMV = $100
- 4 seats at the ATHENA Leadership Award Breakfast
- Half-page ad (4.5”w x 3.625”h) in the event program
- Recognition on event signage
- Recognition in press releases and marketing materials, including mass email blasts
- Listing with link to your organization on the event website
Contact Jen Palinkas
443.412.2428 | Email: jpalinkas@harford.edu
Contribution $500 | Tax deductible amount = $425, FMV = $75
- 3 seats at the ATHENA Leadership Award Breakfast
- Quarter-page ad (2.125”w x 3.625”h) in the event program
- Recognition on event signage
- Recognition in press releases and marketing materials, including mass email blasts
- Listing with link to your organization on the event website
Contact Jen Palinkas
443.412.2428 | Email: jpalinkas@harford.edu
Contribution $250 | Tax deductible amount = $200, FMV = $50
- 2 seats at the ATHENA Leadership Award Breakfast
- Quarter-page ad (2.125”w x 3.625”h) in the event program
- Recognition on event signage
- Listing with link to your organization on the event website
Contact Jen Palinkas
443.412.2428 | Email: jpalinkas@harford.edu
About Athena
The inspiration for the ATHENA International Awards Program originated in Lansing,
Michigan in 1980, when Martha Mayhood Mertz, owner of Mayhood/Mertz REALTORS® Inc.,
was asked to serve on the Board of Directors of the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Finding herself to be the only working woman serving on the Board, she also discovered
that, in the 75 years of presenting community awards, her Chamber had only once honored
a woman.
Martha Mertz recognized that, “The world was changing, and the Chamber boardroom did
not reflect the reality of the world outside.” The time had come to bring into focus
the many outstanding professional and business women in the community and to incorporate
them into leadership positions within the Chamber. Through the “voice of business,”
they, too, would participate in guiding the present and shaping the future. The first
ATHENA Award was presented in 1982.
Past Award Recipients
2024
Stacey Rebbert, ATHENA Leadership Award
Stacy Guerin, ATHENA Young Professional Leadership Award
Laurel Bush Family Dentistry, ATHENA Organizational Award
2023
Dr. Andrée M. Mountain-Campbell, ATHENA Leadership Award
Allison Cuneo, ATHENA Young Professional Award
2022
Claudine Adams, ATHENA Leadership Award
Sarah Klein, ATHENA Young Professional Award
2021
Robin Tomechko, ATHENA Leadership Award
Sara Garbarino, ATHENA Young Professional Award
2020
Sandra Gallion, ATHENA Leadership Award
Beth Mosser, ATHENA Young Professional Award
2019
Sharon Jacobs, ATHENA Leadership Award
Jennie Towner, ATHENA Young Professional Award
2018 Lisa Feulner, ATHENA Leadership Award
Brittany Trocher, ATHENA Young Professional Award
2017 Kathy Walsh, ATHENA Leadership Award
Paige Boyle, ATHENA Young Professional Award
2016 Carolyn Evans, ATHENA Leadership Award
2015 Stephanie Hau, ATHENA Leadership Award
2014 Mary Teddy Wray, ATHENA Leadership Award
2013 Jayne Klein, ATHENA Leadership Award
2012 Denise Carnaggio, ATHENA Leadership Award
2011 Tamera Rush, ATHENA Leadership Award
2010 Lucie Snodgrass, ATHENA Leadership Award
2009 Content McLaughlin, ATHENA Leadership Award
2008 Pat Scott, ATHENA Leadership Award
2007 Karen Green (deceased), ATHENA Leadership Award
2006 Sheryl Davis Kohl, ATHENA Leadership Award
2005 Deborah Smith Williams, ATHENA Leadership Award
2004 Jane Howe, ATHENA Leadership Award
2003 Pat Donovan, ATHENA Leadership Award
2002 Kim Wagner, ATHENA Leadership Award