ATHENA International Elects New Officers and Board Members for 2011/2012

CHICAGO, Aug. 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- ATHENA International, the Chicago-based organization known for building women leaders and recognizing leadership initiatives among women, recently elected officers and board members for the 2011/2012 term.  

Officers include:

• Chair - Heather Paquette, Partner KPMG LLP, Chicago, IL
• Chair Elect - Debra Adams Simmons, Editor, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Cleveland, OH
• First Vice Chair - Deirdre Joy Smith, Founder & President, POWER: Opening Doors for Women, Chicago, IL
• Secretary - Kathryn Lima, President, Faro Enterprises, Sharon, PA
• Treasurer - Carla Carstens, President, Carstens Associates, Chicago, IL

New members of the Board of Directors are:

• Ann-Marie Athavale, Vice President, Empire Communications, Windsor, ON, Canada
• KL Robertson Daly, Business and Marketing Consultant, KL Daly, Chicago, IL
• Dwain Deville, Entrepreneur, Professional Speaker and Author, Orlando, FL
• Lee Anne Doyle, Executive Director, City of Windsor Building Department, Windsor, ON, Canada
• Tori Farmer, Director of Diversity and Corporate Responsibility, KPMG, Chicago, IL
• Paula Giovacchini, President, GIO Group, Inc., Chicago, IL
• Bridget Glavaz, Director of Global Communications, OfficeMax Inc., Chicago, IL
• Patricia Hallberg, CEO, Girl Scouts of Central and Western Massachusetts, Wilbraham, MA
• Michelle Michaels, National Director of Diversity, Foley & Lardner LLP, Chicago, IL
• Colleen Moore Mezler, President & CEO, Moore Research Services, Inc., Erie, PA
• Mona Stone, Partner, Greenberg Traurig LLP, Phoenix, Arizona

Reelected to new two year terms were Anupama Arya, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Mobera Systems Pvt. Ltd., Chandigarh INDIA; Christine Brown, President and Owner, Marketing Resources & Results, Inc., Hudson, Ohio; Marlene Kowalski-Braun, Director, Women's Center, Grand Valley State University, Allendale, Michigan; Catherine M. Lee, President and Founder, CDL & Associates, Inc., Barrington, Illinois; Kathryn Lima; Carla R. Michelotti, Executive Vice President/General Counsel Director of Government Affairs, Leo Burnett Worldwide, Chicago, Illinois; and Deirdre Joy Smith.

Norma Rist, President, Norma J. Rist CEO Consulting, Inc., Akron, Ohio; and Ellen Ruddick, Retired Entrepreneur, Indiana, Pennsylvania; were elected Director Emeritus.  Both are past chairs of ATHENA International.

Other members of the board are Mary Schnack, Owner, Mary Schnack Media Services, Inc., Sedona, Arizona & Washington, DC; Ilene Shapiro, Executive Director Business Development, Summa Foundation, Akron, Ohio; and Linda Stevenson, SVP/Women's Business Development Program, PNC Banking, Erie, Pennsylvania.

About ATHENA International: Founded 29 years ago, ATHENA International™ is known for its mission to support, develop and honor women leaders. The organization is headquartered in Chicago and is well known for its award programs that have honored over 6,100 women leaders in more than eight countries.  ATHENA is proud to acknowledge KPMG as international underwriter.  For more information, visit the organization's website at http://www.athenainternational.org/ or call 312.580.0111.

SOURCE ATHENA International