Athena Grand Traverse - Professional businesswomens' organization dedicated to leadership initiatives for women.

Athena 2009 Announced
The 2009 recipient of the ATHENA award is Denise Busley. The announcement was made during the (15) fifteenth annual award dinner at the Hagerty Center.

Denise was nominated for this prestigious award by friends who describe her as:

"One who has been a consistent force for positivity in our community. She supports worthy causes with both financial and volunteer support. She has been a staunch advocate for a youth project educating the public about the challenges some young people face."

She takes on the role of mentoring employees, knowing in many cases she may be able to offer help. She is most comfortable and effective with one on one mentoring. One of her employees describes her as "she embodies a nurturing soul that touches everyone she meets."

"It is because of people like Denise that wonderful things happen at a community level. Her efforts have helped make the rich fabric of community strong and supportive. She has been called the quintessential embodiment of the Athenian ideal."

Her efforts are legend in helping youth who are aging out of the foster care system through the Michigan Youth Opportunities Initiative, a program designed to assist former foster youth on the way to independence. Denise has been staunch advocate and major supporter of the Initiative for many years, and has been awarded to her the Community Partner of the Year and the Legacy Award.

Denise and husband Mike are owners of the Grand Traverse Pie Company. They actively promote the importance of supporting Michigan's business interests through their own business by purchasing most of its products from Michigan companies.

Denise is a native of Michigan and came to our area about ten years ago.

She has raised two children and mothered many more. She was actively involved in their activities when her children were in school.

Her hobbies include photography; she especially enjoys capturing beautiful northern Michigan landscapes with her camera.

All women and men from the five county Grand Traverse area are eligible to be nominated for the ATHENA Award. Criteria for the award selection is for someone who has attained and embodies the highest level of professional excellence in her/his business or profession, has devoted time and energy to improve the quality of life for others in the community and actively assists women in realizing their leadership potential.

The program is designed to build awareness of and honor the valuable contributions being made by women and men in our business and professional community.

The program is sponsored by National City Bank now a part of PNC, and licensed by ATHENA International.

Information on ATHENA can be found at www.athenagrandtraverse.com.

ATHENA AWARD NOMINATION FORMS AVAILABLE

ATHENA Award Nomination Forms for 2010 are available now through April 1, 2010. Forms can be downloaded from this website or sent to you by requesting them by e-mail jbbassett@charter.net.

The Individual ATHENA Award recipient will be selected from the nominations received by the April 1^st deadline. All women and men from the five county Grand Traverse area are eligible to be nominated. Next year’s ATHENA Award will be presented on May 6, 2010 during dinner at the Hagerty Center. Tickets are available for sale on this website.

Criteria for the award selection is for someone who has attained and embodies the highest level of professional excellence in her/his business or profession, has devoted time and energy to improve the quality of life for others in the community and actively assists women in realizing their leadership potential. Through this program, we hope to build awareness of and honor the valuable contributions being made by women and men in our business and professional community.

The perfect ATHENA nominee may be your neighbor, a co-worker, or your best friend or spouse. The eight leadership qualities that describe an ATHENA recipient are: authentic self, relationships, giving back, collaboration, courageous acts, fierce advocacy, learning and joy. Make that nomination today.

The Grand Traverse ATHENA award was first presented in1995 at a small luncheon. Now in our 14th year, the program has grown into a grand dinner event at the Hagerty Center with a nationally known speaker to be announced in the near future. The Grand Traverse program is sponsored by National City Bank and licensed by Athena International.

The ATHENA Award was first presented in 1982 and is administered by ATHENA International, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. ATHENA is an international non-profit organization dedicated to supporting, developing and honoring women leaders, inspiring women to achieve their full potential—creating balance in leadership worldwide. There are over 300 active award programs and more than 5000 awards have been presented to ATHENA Recipients in the United States and around the world.