Quad Cities Business News presents the prestigious award in three categories.
Astronaut Sally Ride famously said, “You can’t be what you can’t see.” And it wasn’t that long ago when American women couldn’t see a lot of evidence of women like them being lifted up to lead businesses, affect policy, invent products or launch into space. And that bothered Martha Mayhood Mertz, a young professional working in corporate America in the early 1980s. She decided to create change. Today her impact is felt around the world and coming to Prescott Friday, Sept. 20, with the 5th Annual Prescott-Area ATHENA Awards.
More than 40 years ago, Martha Mertz was invited to become a member of the Lansing, Michigan Regional Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. “When I got there, I was the only woman on the board. And that was kind of the way it was everywhere in the country. Women hadn’t yet been able to acquire the kinds of leadership titles and positions that were required for people to be in those spaces. And that’s because, my colleagues – men – told me women weren’t leaders.”
But Mertz knew that women were leaders because she saw them all around her, even if they didn’t have a title or a position. “Sometimes their ideas were so compelling and so interesting, they drew people to them, which I started to recognize what I thought real leadership looked like.”
So, Mertz was inspired to create the ATHENA Awards program as a way to lift up one outstanding woman each year as an example of leadership in her community. She had 10 handcrafted ATHENA statues made and believed that after a decade, there would no longer be a need to recognize women separately from others.
“We thought once people could understand how good women were at these leadership qualities that they would be hired for important positions in the community and taken seriously as leaders. I expected it to be over that quickly, but it hasn’t been. And actually, there are still a lot of disappointing, but similar, circumstances for women today.”
And thus, Mertz says the ATHENA Award, which now exists in seven countries with more than 8,000 recipients, is a tribute to the fact that women are leaders.
“About 20 years ago, we started asking the question, ‘How do women lead?’ We did a national research project, pulled together a group of recognized leaders to sift through the information we got and we came up with eight principles of leadership.”
Some of these principles are now showing up in other leadership studies, she says. “People are starting to recognize, no matter what field they are in, that being authentic, knowing who you are and knowing your own values is an essential part of leadership. That’s just one of those principles.”
The eight make up the ATHENA Leadership Model, which she calls “a model for the 21st century.” They are: The Authentic Self, Relationships, Giving Back, Collaboration, Courageous Acts, Learning, Fierce Advocacy, Celebration and Joy.
Because of trailblazing women like Mertz, the Quad Cities community will come together at Starting Point, 3-5 p.m., Friday, Sept. 20, to celebrate and inspire women when Quad Cities Business News presents the 5th Annual Prescott-Area ATHENA Leadership Awards featuring legendary Arizona television news anchorwoman Mary Jo West as the keynote speaker. There are three ATHENA Leadership categories offered this year: ATHENA Leadership, Young Professional and Organizational Leadership.
“If anybody believes that they have leadership potential but hasn’t reached that place yet, let them continue to believe in themselves and work on that because they are right about their leadership potential,” said Mertz. FBN
By Bonnie Stevens, FBN
For more information, to nominate an individual or organization, to sponsor a table or purchase a ticket, visit PrescottATHENA.com.
Hear from ATHENA founder Martha Mayhood Mertz on Zonie Living at Star Worldwide Networks: https://starworldwidenetworks.com/episodes/encouraging-celebrating-women-in-leadership-with-athena-program-founder-martha-mayhood-mertz-video
Courtesy Photo: ATHENA founder Martha Mayhood Mertz has been a champion and encourager for women for more than four decades.