ATHENA International Leadership Award Celebrates Women Making a Difference

On Thursday, September 3, the 14th Annual ATHENA International Leadership Award Banquet was presented by the Rotary Club of Dubois County. Rotary Club President Derek Budd served as Host and Emcee for the event. Deaconess Memorial Medical Center Chaplain Brenda Ferguson delivered the Invocation to begin the evening. Chief Justice Loretta Rush, Indiana’s First Female Chief Justice, served as the Keynote Speaker. 

The ATHENA Leadership Award honors ATHENA International has honored more than 8200 recipients from more than 500 regions, 11 countries, and 48 states. In addition to recognizing their own achievements, the award celebrates recipients who have created opportunities and opened doors for those who follow. By highlighting these leaders and their contributions, the ATHENA Leadership Award encourages others to pursue excellence and develop their own leadership potential. 

The ceremony paid tribute to individuals demonstrating outstanding leadership while encouraging and supporting the professional growth of women. The evening’s honorees included Bea Cobo-Becerra, Shannon Fuhs, Tammy Humbert, Susan Mann, Paula Rasche, and Sam Schwoeppe. ATHENA Leadership Award winner Schwoeppe talked about how it felt to be in the company of such a strong final group. 

“It’s an incredible thing to be recognized with this group of women, and so humbling. Whenever you hear all the fantastic work that is happening in our community that this group is leading, I was like, there’s no way I’m going to be chosen as the winner tonight. And it’s just an incredible thing and such an honor, and I’m so grateful to the community for this.” And what is Schwoeppe’s message to the next generation? 

“There are going to be many people in your life who say no to you, that you cannot do something or that you should not do something. And I’m just going to say, it is incredibly fun to be able to take their no and to show them what yes looks like. So I wish you unmitigated joy whenever that moment happens for you. So just believe in yourself and listen to your heart. And when you know what’s right, go after it.” 

After the ceremony, Chief Justice Rush spoke with WITZ and shared some of her thoughts on both the event and her time in Dubois County. 

“You’ve got a beautiful community. I mean, you have something to be proud of down here. You do. I mean, it’s physically beautiful, but the spirit that I felt tonight in this room, it’s pretty amazing. And don’t lose that. The fact the Rotary’s so strong – I think Rotarians, I just love ‘em. They have such a sense of purpose. And all this time when people aren’t getting along, if you can bring people of different political parties, faiths together on something joyous, let’s celebrate that. Let’s build on that.” 
 
Rotary President Budd echoed that sentiment, emphasizing the Rotarian motto of “service above self.” He noted that the Chief Justice and all the honorees had clearly shown that ideal in their lives and service. And that, after all, is what the evening was all about. 

For more information, visit www.duboiscountyrotary.com 

 - Drew Hasselbring