Recognition for Female Leaders in Local Community
St. Cloud, Minn. – The Women’s Fund of the Central Minnesota Community Foundation is seeking nominations for the ATHENA Award, a lifetime, achievement award, which is presented to a woman who, over time, has achieved excellence in her career and inspires others. Nominations for this award will be accepted until April 30th and the recipient will be honored at the Central Minnesota Community Foundation Annual Dinner to be held on September 10th.
Criteria for selection of this award includes demonstrating excellence, creativity and initiative in her career or workplace, providing valuable service by contributing time and energy to improve the lives of others in the community and actively assisting women in realizing their full leadership potential.
Nominations are accepted online in a short form at www.communitygiving.org/athenaaward. For an alternative nomination method, please contact the Foundation office at 320-253-4380.
“The ATHENA Award is an excellent way to recognize a woman in our community that has excelled in her career, contributed to the community and helped other women realize their full leadership potential,” says Lisa Maurer, Women’s Fund ATHENA Committee Chair.
Past recipients of this 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 and Tarryl Clark 2018.
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 $1.3 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 $105.9 million in assets and awarded over $100.5 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 nearly 800 funds totaling more than $140 million. Learn more at CommunityGiving.org/CentralMN
