Wayne Bank and Indiana University East have selected this year’s ATHENA Award recipients. These recipients demonstrate The Eight Principles of Enlighted Leadership™: Live Authentically, Learn Constantly, Build Relationships, Foster Collaboration, Act Courageously, Advocate Fiercely, Give Back, and Celebrate.
Sharrie Harlin is the recipient of the ATHENA Leadership Award® and Paige Crosset is the ATHENA Young Professional recipient. Girls, Inc. of Wayne County is the recipient of the ATHENA Organizational Leadership Award.
The awards will be presented to the recipients at the annual dinner at 6 p.m. on Thursday, August 8, at Forest Hills Country Club, located at 2169 South 23rd St. in Richmond, Indiana. This is the ninth year for the awards.
Sharrie Harlin is the recipient of the ATHENA Leadership Award®.
The ATHENA Leadership Award® is presented to an exemplary leader who has demonstrated excellence in their business or profession, served the community in a meaningful way and, most importantly, actively assisted women to achieve their full leadership potential. The event recognizes women leaders who motivate, inspire, and create positive change in the community. Previous award recipients include Mary Jo Clark, Jackie Carberry, Angie Dickman, Janis Buhl-Macy, Kim Poinsett, Tracie Robinson, Melissa Vance, and Kathryn Girten.
Sharrie Harlin serves as Reid Health’s Community Engagement Manager. In this role she serves to ensure all people have access to healthcare, regardless of socioeconomic status or other barriers.
Harlin has previously received the Volunteer of the Year Award from the Wayne County Area Chamber of Commerce, as well as recognition for her community leadership from Mount Olive Baptist Church.
Harlin’s extensive community service includes involvement with Centerstone of Indiana, Drug Free Fayette and Wayne Counties, Wayne County Community Corrections, Systems of Care Fayette and Wayne Counties, MainStreet Richmond, Shoes for Kids, Hoosiers Enduring Legacy Program, Richmond NAACP, Wayne County Purdue Extension, among others.
Paige Crosset is the recipient of the ATHENA Young Professional Leadership Award.
The ATHENA Young Professional Leadership Award actively supports and celebrates the ATHENA mission of supporting, developing, and honoring women leaders, inspiring women to achieve their full potential—creating balance in leadership worldwide. ATHENA Young Professional Leadership Nominees are 18-35 years of age. Nominees are emerging women leaders who demonstrate excellence, creativity, and initiative in their business or profession. They provide valuable service to improve the quality of life for others in their community, and clearly serve as role models for young women both personally and professionally. Previous award recipients include Roxie Deer, Jessie Pilewski, Ashley Sieb, and Tai Muldoon.
Paige Crosset is the Plant Technical Manager for General Mills/Blue Buffalo. She quickly earned this position due to her industry knowledge, extensive education, and care for her coworkers – she is the youngest ever General Mills employee to have attained this title. Paige is actively involved as a mentor within Blue Buffalo as well as Girls, Inc. She fosters community collaboration toward important events, such as International Women’s Day and more. Paige serves as the President of Betty’s Family, the LGBTQ+ affinity network for the entire General Mills Supply Chain.
This is the third year the ATHENA Organizational Leadership Award is presented in Wayne County. The award actively supports and celebrates the ATHENA mission of supporting, developing, and honoring women leaders, inspiring women to achieve their full potential—creating balance in leadership worldwide. ATHENA organizational nominees are businesses or organizations, in the profit or non-profit sectors, that create an organizational culture that encourages women employees to achieve their full leadership potential or gives back to the larger community of women and girls by providing and/ or supporting leadership development opportunities and initiatives.
Girls, Inc. of Wayne County is the 2024 Wayne County ATHENA Organizational Leadership Award recipient.
Girls, Inc. of Wayne County inspires all girls to be strong, smart, and bold through direct service and advocacy. These positive outcomes are achieved through three core elements: people, environment, and programming. The organization provides on-site after school and summer programming, as well as off-site outreach programming with local schools and organizations.
About the Athena Leadership Award®
Wayne Bank and IU East are honored to bring and sponsor this award to Wayne County, established locally in 2014. Proceeds benefit local organizations dedicated to serving leadership building for women of all ages.
The program is facilitated locally by Wayne Bank and Indiana University East, licensed ATHENA host organizations. Nominations are sought throughout the community and recipients are selected by a diverse group of community leaders based on the criteria above.
ATHENA Leadership Award® recipients hail from all professional sectors. The award’s rich history, international scope and emphasis on mentorship make this award unique and amongst the most prestigious leadership awards one can receive.
About ATHENA International
Founded over 30 years ago, ATHENA International is a women’s leadership organization that supports, develops, and honors women leaders through the programs it administers. ATHENA’s flagship program, the ATHENA Leadership Award® Program, has honored over 7,000 women leaders from hundreds of cities and eight countries since its inception in 1982.
To RSVP visit waynecoathena.com or contact Dana Henderson at (765) 259-0205. For more information about the dinner including sponsorship opportunities, contact JoAnn Spurlock, vice president, and director of operations at Wayne Bank, at (765) 259-0209 or jspurlock@waynebnk.com