St. Cloud, Minn. – Five, six, seven, eight…a woman who has dedicated her career to the performing and visual arts, anti-racism training, leadership development of women, international education and prioritizing the success for under-represented students is the recipient of this year’s ATHENA Award.
Selected through a nomination process hosted by the Women’s Fund of the Central Minnesota Community Foundation, Debra L. Leigh has accepted the 2021 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. Debra was chosen for the ATHENA Award because of her dedication to mentoring and leadership development of women over the years both professionally as an educator and personally as an engaged community member.
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 include: 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, Debra is the Interim Vice President of Cultural Fluency, Equity and Inclusion at St. Cloud Technical and Community College. Prior to her role at SCTCC she’s spent the majority of her professional career at St. Cloud State University. Starting as the Director of Dance, Debra led the process of moving the program’s department to the College of Performing Arts where she created a new curriculum. In addition to her work at SCSU, Debra went on to establish the first modern dance company at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in South Africa as well as producing concerts at the prestigious Akademi Seni Tari Indonesia Academy of Dance. Throughout her dance performance career, Debra is credited with mentoring women and building their leadership skills for use both on and off the stage.
In the community, Debra has been a member of several boards and organizations. Most recently she’s been the Chair of the Central Minnesota Community Foundation’s Board, with serving over 10 years as a member. She’s also been a member of the Central Minnesota Arts Board, Council on Black Minnesotans, Leaders of Today and Tomorrow, Crossroads Anti-Racism Organizing and Training and Multicultural Children’s Art Connection, among numerous others.
Along with her board and organizational commitments, Debra has continued to create new pathways for the advancement of women within Central Minnesota. Most notably, Debra founded the International Black Women’s Leadership Project, a collaborative research project enabling African and African-American community members, graduate students and faculty to deepen their relationships and to encourage their writing about black women and leadership. Also formed with Debra’s influence was Omeka, which is a group of African American women that gather monthly to host other African women refugees, immigrants and their families moving into St. Cloud. Omeka inspired the creation of a sister project, LatinaMeka, which was launched by women in the Latina community one year after Omeka was formed.
One of the women that nominated Debra for the ATHENA Award, Deb Holstad says her dedication to helping other women is inspiring.
“Debra Leigh has provided mentorship and leadership to countless women over the years through her work as a college professor, as a community activist and as a champion for equity and inclusion.”
Steve Joul is the President of CommunityGiving, the organization that supports the Central Minnesota Community Foundation, where Debra has served as its board’s chair. He says Debra has the special ability to bring people together.
“Few people have been active and influential in building cultural bridges across the Greater St. Cloud Community as Debra Leigh. She is passionate about the need to build an inclusive community across cultures and has worked tirelessly in many roles to make this happen. She is quiet, humble and yet bold in her leadership style. She has the natural gift for helping people come together around difficult and challenging discussions.”
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 and Dorraine “Dorrie” Larison 2020.
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 over $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 $110.5 million in assets and awarded over $122.5 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 880 funds totaling more than $153 million. Learn more at CommunityGiving.org/CentralMN.
