Geri Bechtold, 2022 ATHENA Award Recipient

June 6, 2022
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St. Cloud, Minn. – An ambassador for youth, a mentor to young women, and a woman who is described by her peers as being the heart and soul of the nonprofit to which she’s dedicated her life’s work, Geri Bechtold is this year’s ATHENA Award recipient. (Photo below)
 
Selected through a nomination process hosted by the Women’s Fund of the Central Minnesota Community Foundation, Geri Bechtold has accepted the 2022 ATHENA Award. The ATHENA Award is a lifetime achievement award recognizing exceptional women leaders who inspire others to achieve excellence in their professional and personal lives. Geri was chosen for the ATHENA Award because of her dedication to mentoring women and girls professionally as well as through personal mentorships and community partnerships.
 
The mission of the ATHENA Award is to recognize and honor Central Minnesota women who have achieved excellence in their careers and who inspire others. Criteria for selection includes demonstrates excellence, creativity, and initiative in her business or profession; provides valuable service by contributing time and energy to improve the lives of others in Central Minnesota; and actively assists women in realizing their full leadership potential.
 
Currently, Geri is the Vice President of Operations for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Minnesota. She started at the Clubs part-time more than 30 years ago and since turned it into her career. She started out as a program manager for the Kennedy location KIDSTOP in the 90s. Later she went on to create the Junior Volunteer Leadership program to help give teens leadership opportunities in her K-6 program. She also launched the St. Joseph Community Evening Outreach Program which helped provide youth a safe place to gather, all while the community was hurting after the kidnapping of Jacob Wetterling.
 
About 15 years ago, Geri was asked to oversee all Boys & Girls Club’s K-6 school-based KIDSTOP sites. Geri has been instrumental in helping the Boys & Girls Clubs pivot during challenging times, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. She prioritized finding a way to keep programs safe and accessible for youth, established a childcare program for frontline workers and launching virtual programming including video messages, weekly Zoom meetings and creating a Virtual Club on their website. For the virtual club staff contribute weekly instructional videos in the arts, STEM, dance, reading and career development fields.
 
Along with her work at the Boys & Girls Clubs, Geri also supports and partners with the United Way of Central Minnesota on their youth education programs as well as some of the Central Minnesota area school districts. Right now, she is working to launch a program in area schools that will help students who have lost credits during the pandemic, earn them. Geri is also working in the St. Cloud school district to support a program designed to decrease the early learning education gaps among children.
 
Aimee Minnerath is the Senior Director of Communications for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Minnesota, she nominated Geri for the ATHENA award.
 
She says, “Geri truly is the heart and soul of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Minnesota. She has been with the organization since she started part-time more than 30 years ago. She had planned on going into education, but the Boys & Girls Club grabbed a hold of her heart and never let go.”
 
Tracy Beyer is the 2005 Boys & Girls Clubs Youth of the Year recipient. She’s since become a site manager and credits Geri for being her mentor and inspiring her and others to succeed.

“Geri is not only committed to our members and our families; she is also committed to us as employees. Geri Bechtold has inspired me to be the best staff and the best person I can be. She has helped lead me from being a youth development staff and pushed me to achieve more, such as a college degree and being a program manager at the Boys & Girls Clubs. There hasn’t been a time in my life that I can remember that Geri hasn’t been there to lead me positively both professionally and personally. She pushes all of us to do our very best for the kids and families at the Boys & Girls Clubs and it’s been an honor to have her mentor me over the years.” 
 
Past recipients of the award include Susan Mackert 1988, Colman O’Connell 1989, Peg Meyer 1990, Ann Thelen 1991, Nancy Fischer 1992, Diane Gohman 1993, Diana Murphy Podawiltz 1994, Dorothy Simpson 1995, Cheryl Lightle 1996, Connie Cross 1997, Sonja Sorensen Craig 1998, Patti Gartland 1999, Colette Carlson 2000, Marj Hawkins 2001, Sandy Neutzling 2002, Betty Schnettler 2003, Barb Carlson 2004, Joan Volkmuth 2005, Patt Adair 2008, Jan Bensen 2009, Elaine Bauerly 2010, Cindy Faye Johnson 2011, Molly Renslow 2012, Maxine Barnett 2013, Patricia Welter 2014, Ann Cofell 2015, Lynn Grewing 2016, Linda Eich DesJardins 2017, Tarryl Clark 2018, Bernie Perryman 2019, Dorraine “Dorrie” Larison 2020, and Debra Leigh 2021.

Since 2002, the Women’s Fund of the Central Minnesota Community Foundation has been dedicated to strengthening the community by improving the lives of women and girls. The Women’s Fund has granted nearly $1.6 million to support local programs in three core focus areas: girls age 10-18, women in transition and elder women.

The Central Minnesota Community Foundation (CMCF) attracts and administers charitable funds for the benefit of the local community. Since 1985, CMCF has grown to over $147.6 million in assets and awarded over $134.5 million in grants to non-profits.  The CMCF is governed by a local board of directors and is a partner of CommunityGiving, which is a collaborative of community foundations united under a single framework to create efficiencies that maximize the impact of our donors.  Collectively, CommunityGiving administers over 900 funds totaling nearly $201 million. Learn more at CommunityGiving.org/CentralMN.


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