The ATHENA Award® recognizes women who:

• Demonstrate excellence, creativity, and initiative in their business or profession.
• Provide valuable service by contributing time and energy to improve the quality of life for others in the community.
• Actively assist women in realizing their full leadership potential.

The ATHENA leadership model is a philosophy of leadership based on women's unique ways of knowing and leading. Developed by the ATHENA  Foundation in collaboration through a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the model identifies eight district attributes or tenets that are reflective of women's contributions to leadership:

1. AUTHENTIC SELF
2. RELATIONSHIPS
3. GIVING BACK
4. COLLABORATION
5. COURAGEOUS ACTS
6. LEARNING
7. FIERCE ADVOCACY
8. CELEBRATION AND JOY

These personal traits have been shown to be more intuitive to women than men. They combine with the strongest aspects of traditional leadership—taking risks, assertiveness, and hard work. And they prepare women to be successful leaders in the 21st century.