St. Cloud, Minn. – The Women’s Fund of the Central Minnesota Community Foundation is seeking nominations for the ATHENA Award which is presented to a woman who has, over the lifetime of her career, achieved professional excellence and inspires others in the St. Cloud area.
Nominations for this award will be accepted through February 28, 2026, and the recipient will be honored at the Women’s Fund Dancing with our Stars event, June 8, 2026.
To be eligible to receive the ATHENA award, nominees must meet the following criteria:
- 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.
To officially nominate a candidate for the ATHENA Award, nominators must complete a short form that can be found online at communitygiving.org/athenaaward or by contacting Carrie Abfalter at [email protected]. Each nominee may be contacted to provide additional information after the short form is submitted. This may include biographical information for the selection committee. The ATHENA Award is sponsored by Granite Partners.
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, Tarryl Clark 2018, Bernie Perryman 2019, Dorraine “Dorrie” Larison 2020, Debra Leigh 2021, Geri Bechtold 2022, Michelle Pape 2023, Janelle Kendall 2024, and Joanne Kudrna 2025.
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 ages 10-18, women experiencing adversity 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 $160.7 million in assets and awarded $166.7 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 network of community foundations united under a single framework to create efficiencies that maximize the impact of our donors. Collectively, CommunityGiving administers over 1,200 funds totaling nearly $240 million in assets. Learn more at communitygiving.org/cmcf