ATHENA Speaks Series
ATHENA Speaks is a women's empowerment guest speaker series presented in partnership with the Erie Regional Chamber & Growth Partnership. Women are changing the landscape in many organizations and their needs can be met through women leaders sharing and collaborating. ATHENA International has a clear vision--to achieve balance in the voices of leadership worldwide and communities like Erie by developing, supporting, and honoring women leaders. ATHENA Erie and the Erie Regional Chamber & Growth Partnership have come together to collaborate on reaching the community of women and men who are ready to support and sustain these important changes. ATHENA Speaks is intended to develop, support, and honor women leaders; lifting up the current and future generations of women leaders by amplifying their voices.
ATHENA Speaks: On the Gender Gap - Tuesday, December 3, 2019
Event Information:
Tuesday, December 3, 2019
11:30 AM - 1:30 PM
Jefferson Educational Society, 3207 State St. Erie, PA 16508
Keynote Speaker: Sweetie Browne, Program Manager, Americas Sales Strategy & Planning, Cisco Systems, Inc.
Sweetie believes in the motto, “good things come to those who go after it” and this has been her approach to her professional and personal growth. Sweetie has always found ways to combine her strengths and values to make an impact not only in her work, but also in her community. It is no accident that she leads the Early-in-Career Internship Program for Americas Sales at Cisco Systems.
Sweetie’s passions lie in helping women of all ages feel empowered to accomplish their goals. Being the oldest of four sisters, she knows firsthand the importance of creating a strong foundation for young women to succeed. Sweetie volunteers with several local non-profit organizations and is the lead for WISE (Women In Science & Engineering) RTP, an Inclusion & Collaboration employee resource organization at Cisco. She also served on the Board of Directors for Professional Development for Connected Women of North Carolina, where she managed career professional development programs for women in the RTP area.
Sweetie resides in Cary, North Carolina, with her beloved dog, PrissyRose. She enjoys connecting with women and young girls across RTP and helping them understand the importance of building a strong network.
Event Description:
Navigating a career as a young professional is challenging. Now add in the fact that gender gap is at an all-time high, further emphasizing the severe lack of women in STEM fields. We can change that. Join us and from women who are bridging the Gender Gap and learn how to steer your career in the right direction break up this cycle of exclusion.
We need to challenge workplaces to work collaboratively towards a single mission to emphasize inclusion. With this simple refocus, we can create opportunities for women in the workplace to fill gender gaps. By working together we can achieve ever greater professional success.
Next steps are to build out a collaborative workforce. Really focus on who is actually doing the work, how it is getting done, and where we need to insert inclusion. We want women to speak up and be heard, and men to help create opportunities for equality. Specifically with STEM, the roles are fast paced, tough and require high levels of intelligence – all things that women can excel in but need the opportunity. We need to work together to break through the barriers that we all/women today face.
You, as a young professional, have so much to offer, we want to help you navigate and rise up together to solidify your place in this industry.
Panelists Include:
Dr. Andrea Jeffress, MD, FACOG
OB/Gyn Associates of Erie
2019 ATHENA Award Recipient
Geri-Lyn Hoffman
Quality Director, Dynamic Systems
LORD Corporation
Cathy von Birgelen
Executive Director
eMarketing Learning Center
Tuesday, December 3, 2019
11:30 AM - 1:30 PM
Jefferson Educational Society, 3207 State St. Erie, PA 16508
Keynote Speaker: Sweetie Browne, Program Manager, Americas Sales Strategy & Planning, Cisco Systems, Inc.
Sweetie believes in the motto, “good things come to those who go after it” and this has been her approach to her professional and personal growth. Sweetie has always found ways to combine her strengths and values to make an impact not only in her work, but also in her community. It is no accident that she leads the Early-in-Career Internship Program for Americas Sales at Cisco Systems.
Sweetie’s passions lie in helping women of all ages feel empowered to accomplish their goals. Being the oldest of four sisters, she knows firsthand the importance of creating a strong foundation for young women to succeed. Sweetie volunteers with several local non-profit organizations and is the lead for WISE (Women In Science & Engineering) RTP, an Inclusion & Collaboration employee resource organization at Cisco. She also served on the Board of Directors for Professional Development for Connected Women of North Carolina, where she managed career professional development programs for women in the RTP area.
Sweetie resides in Cary, North Carolina, with her beloved dog, PrissyRose. She enjoys connecting with women and young girls across RTP and helping them understand the importance of building a strong network.
Event Description:
Navigating a career as a young professional is challenging. Now add in the fact that gender gap is at an all-time high, further emphasizing the severe lack of women in STEM fields. We can change that. Join us and from women who are bridging the Gender Gap and learn how to steer your career in the right direction break up this cycle of exclusion.
We need to challenge workplaces to work collaboratively towards a single mission to emphasize inclusion. With this simple refocus, we can create opportunities for women in the workplace to fill gender gaps. By working together we can achieve ever greater professional success.
Next steps are to build out a collaborative workforce. Really focus on who is actually doing the work, how it is getting done, and where we need to insert inclusion. We want women to speak up and be heard, and men to help create opportunities for equality. Specifically with STEM, the roles are fast paced, tough and require high levels of intelligence – all things that women can excel in but need the opportunity. We need to work together to break through the barriers that we all/women today face.
You, as a young professional, have so much to offer, we want to help you navigate and rise up together to solidify your place in this industry.
- We strive for commonality among our diversity.
- Inclusive with a focus on opportunity and an equal playing field.
- The male dominated STEM industry is ready to be overturned.
- We want to own our power and make room to give ladies the chance to succeed
Panelists Include:
Dr. Andrea Jeffress, MD, FACOG
OB/Gyn Associates of Erie
2019 ATHENA Award Recipient
Geri-Lyn Hoffman
Quality Director, Dynamic Systems
LORD Corporation
Cathy von Birgelen
Executive Director
eMarketing Learning Center
ATHENA Speaks: On Board Balance - Wednesday, July 10, 2019
From left: Tina Donikowski, Christy Uffelman, Linda Stevenson (ATHENA Erie Chair), Khadija Horton, Tim NeCastro, Amanda Kochirka (Erie Regional Chamber Program Director)
Research shows that it is hard to find qualified women for board membership, so how do you know when you are ready to serve? How is the path different for a seat on non-profit board vs. a for-profit, or even for a public board? What skills, experiences and network do you need to achieve a seat at the table? This program offered answers to these questions and more.
The keynote presentation was given by Christy Uffelman, board member of NACD NXT’s Future of Board Leadership initiative in Pittsburgh and President of Align Leadership. Read Christy's bio.
Panelists Included:
Tina Donikowski - Retired Vice President of Global Locomotive Operations, GE Transportation
Khadija Horton, Esq. - Assistant Public Defender
Timothy NeCastro - President and CEO, Erie Insurance
The keynote presentation was given by Christy Uffelman, board member of NACD NXT’s Future of Board Leadership initiative in Pittsburgh and President of Align Leadership. Read Christy's bio.
Panelists Included:
Tina Donikowski - Retired Vice President of Global Locomotive Operations, GE Transportation
Khadija Horton, Esq. - Assistant Public Defender
Timothy NeCastro - President and CEO, Erie Insurance
ATHENA Speaks: On Law - Thursday, February 14, 2019
In follow up to the very successful screening of On the Basis of Sex with fellow ATHENA supporters, attendees of the first event in the ATHENA Speaks series heard from District Judge Susan Paradise Baxter and a panel of local female attorneys. Judge Baxter discussed the second wave of feminism in the context of the law.
Read Judge Baxter's bio here: https://www.pawd.uscourts.gov/content/susan-paradise-baxter-district-judge
Panelists included:
Andrea Amicangelo, Esq. - Amicangelo & Theisen
Meredith Bollheimer, JD - Mercyhurst University
Colleen Stumpf, Esq. - Quinn Law Firm
Read Judge Baxter's bio here: https://www.pawd.uscourts.gov/content/susan-paradise-baxter-district-judge
Panelists included:
Andrea Amicangelo, Esq. - Amicangelo & Theisen
Meredith Bollheimer, JD - Mercyhurst University
Colleen Stumpf, Esq. - Quinn Law Firm