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Athena Awards

30th Annual ATHENA Awards®

The ATHENA Awards is the region’s most prestigious event recognizing the professional accomplishments of exceptional individuals dedicated to the advancement of women. 
This year, we are pleased to honor our finalists in three distinct categories:
  • The ATHENA Leadership Award®
  • The ATHENA Young Professional Award®
  • NEW THIS YEAR – The ATHENA Organizational Award®
Date: Wednesday, April 28, 2021 | Time: 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM

Register to Attend Here

Don’t miss this year’s virtual event to witness live as the award recipients are unveiled and hear from panelists in each category as they touch on a range of topics, such as:
  • Pivoting during a pandemic: How these leaders not only adapted to the business challenges of COVID-19 but also found ways to succeed.
  • Looking into the future: What young professional women think the future of work will look like for them and the workforce moving forward.
  • Building a more inclusive workplace: How organizations are working to build cultures where everyone can express their authentic voice.

Congratulations to the 2021 ATHENA Leadership Award® Finalists:

Gina Burkhardt
President & CEO
Buffalo Center for Arts and Technology

Read Her Blog

Beth Guiliani Gatto
Director Arena Operations
Buffalo Sabres &
KeyBank Center

Read Her Blog

Rema Hanash
Director of Resource Dev.
United Way of Buffalo &
Erie County

Read Her Blog

Mary Jean Jakubowski
Director
Buffalo & Erie
County Public Library

Read Her Blog

Lisa LaTrovato
Donor Relations Manager
Hauptman – Woodward Medical
Research Institute

Read Her Blog

Cindy Lee
CEO
OLV
Human Services

Read Her Blog

Kimberley Minkel
Executive Director
Niagara Frontier Transportation
Authority (NFTA)

Read Her Blog

Crystal Rodriguez-Dabney
Chief of Staff to President &
Chief Diversity Officer
Buffalo State College

Read Her Blog

Cynthia Vance
CEO | Sterling Invest. Counsel
Managing Partner | Jensen,
Marks, Langer & Vance

Read Her Blog

Sujata Yalamanchili
Partner
Hodgson Russ LLP

Read Her Blog

Congratulations 2021 ATHENA Young Professional Leadership Award® Finalists:

Kanasha Blue
Business Service
Representative
NYS Dept. of Labor

Read Her Blog

Juweria Dahir
City Planner & External Affairs
Manager
City of Buffalo

Read Her Blog

Maggie Hamilton Winship
Director of Economic
Development
Town of Amherst

Read Her Blog

Christina Holdsworth
Associate
Goldberg Segalla
LLP

Read Her Blog

Jenna Koch
HR Business Partner | Catholic
Health
Council Pres. | Tonawanda

Read Her Blog

Lynne Ruda
Orchestra Director
Lancaster Central
School District

Read Her Blog

Caitlin Schneider
Vendor Business
Manager
Ingram Micro, Inc.

Read Her Blog

Julia Spitz
Executive Vice President
Savarino
Properties

Read Her Blog

Kayleigh Terranova
Community Relations
Partner
Tesla

Read Her Blog

Not Pictured:
Jennifer Flannery
Partner/Trust & Estates Practice
Barclay Damon LLP

Congratulations 2021 ATHENA Organizational Award® Finalists:

Seneca Gaming Corporation

Read The Blog

BestSelf Behavioral Health

Read The Blog

Linde

Read The Blog

Evergreen Health

Read The Blog

Ernst & Young LLP

Read The Blog

Girl Scouts of Western New York

Read The Blog

About the Award Categories

ATHENA
Leadership Award®

The ATHENA Leadership Award® honors an exceptional individual who has achieved the highest level of professional excellence, contributed time and energy to improve the quality of life for others in the community, and actively assisted others—particularly women—in realizing their full leadership potential.

ATHENA Young Professional Leadership Award®

The ATHENA Young Professional Leadership Award® honors an emerging leader who demonstrates excellence, creativity, and initiative in their business or profession, and serves as a role model for young women personally and professionally.

ATHENA
Organizational Award®

The ATHENA Organizational Award® recognizes 2 organizations: One for-profit organization and one non-profit organization that supports, develops, and honors women leaders, inspiring women to achieve their full potential and creating balance in leadership throughout Buffalo Niagara.

Criteria: ATHENA Leadership Award

The ATHENA Leadership Award® honors an exceptional individual who has achieved the highest level of professional excellence, contributes time and energy to improve the quality of life for others in the community, and actively assists others, particularly women, in realizing their full leadership potential. This award is dedicated to promoting and honoring the valuable contributions being made to advance the status of women in the Buffalo Niagara region.

QUALIFICATIONS:
  • Nominees from all sectors will be considered.
  • Business and leadership achievement, community involvement and support for women professionals must be clearly demonstrated.
  • Previous ATHENA Award® nominees are eligible for re-nomination.
  • Nominees are not required to be a member of the Buffalo Niagara Partnership or be employed by a Partnership member firm.

Criteria: ATHENA Young Professional Leadership Award

The ATHENA Young Professional Leadership Award® honors an exceptional individual who demonstrates excellence, creativity and initiative in their business or profession; provides valuable service by contributing time and energy to improve the quality of life for others in the community; and clearly serves as a role model for young women professionally and personally. This award is dedicated to promoting and honoring the valuable contributions being made to advance the status of women in the Buffalo Niagara region.

Please note: Nominees must be under 40 years of age.

QUALIFICATIONS:
  • Nominees from all sectors will be considered.
  • Business and leadership achievement, community involvement, and support for women professionals must be clearly demonstrated.
  • Previous ATHENA Award® nominees are eligible for re-nomination.
  • Nominees are not required to be a member of the Buffalo Niagara Partnership or be employed by a Partnership member firm.

Criteria: ATHENA Organizational Award

ATHENA Organizational Award® nominees are for-profit and non-profit businesses or organizations that meet each of the following criteria:

  • Creates a culture that encourages women employees to achieve their full leadership potential.
  • Gives back to the larger community of women and girls by providing and/or supporting leadership development opportunities and initiatives.
  • Has a minimum of five (5) paid full-time employees that help with the day-to-day functions of the organization.
Note: Nominees from all industry sectors and organization types will be considered. Eligible for the award are for- and non-profit companies from both the public and private sectors.

 

ATHENA Awards® Honorary Steering Committee

Honorary Co-Chairs:

Crystal D. Peoples-Stokes
Majority Leader | New York State Assembly

Trina Burruss
Regional Vice President and Community Relationship Officer | Northwest Bank

Steering Committee Members:

Lorrie Clemo
President | D’Youville College

Ann M. Evanko
Member, former President and Managing Partner | Hurwitz & Fine, P.C.

Mary Owusu
Assistant Professor of Marketing | Canisius College
CEO | GuruBound.com

Danielle Ossher
Editor | Buffalo Magazine

Rhonda Frederick
President and CEO | People, Inc.

Sharon Randaccio
President and CEO | Performance Management Partners

Katie Krawczyk
CEO and Partner | 19 Ideas

 

The 2019 ATHENA Award Recipients:

JoAnn Falletta
Music Director, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra – 2019 ATHENA Leadership Award®

Katie Krawczyk
Partner & CEO, 19 IDEAS – 2019 ATHENA Young Professional Leadership Award®

See the 2019 Buffalo News Smiles Gallery for more.

For a full list of previous ATHENA Award® recipients, click here.

Join Us to See Who Will be This Year’s Winners!
Date: Wednesday, April 28, 2021 | Time: 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM
Register Here For The Event

 

Thank You to the Sponsors of The 30th Annual ATHENA Awards

Title Sponsor
 
Presenting Sponsor
seneca-gaming-logo-web
 
Finalist Sponsor
 
Official Accounting Sponsor
LM logo final
 
Television Sponsor
WKBW logo
 
Official Media Sponsor
BuffaloMagazineLogo2020
 

The Buffalo Niagara Partnership is the area representative for ATHENA International, a nonprofit that seeks to support, develop, and honor women leaders. The ATHENA Awards® are celebrated around the world in more than 500 communities and 8 countries. Since 1989, the Partnership has been honored to produce the annual ATHENA Awards® Luncheon, at which finalists for the ATHENA Leadership Award®, the ATHENA Young Professional Leadership Award®, and the ATHENA Organizational Award® are honored.