The ATHENA Leadership Series at weVENTURE WBC is a program that we are proud to bring back for a sixth year! Today, the ATHENA Leadership Model can help women transform their leadership skills and empower them to step up during these times of economic turmoil, a pandemic, and a worldwide movement for economic and racial justice to be the leaders we need them to be.
Based on the eight ATHENA principles of enlightened leadership identified by ATHENA International, this course is designed to help emerging female leaders grow in confidence and clarity of purpose. Participants read and discuss the book, Becoming ATHENA by Martha Mertz, and each class session is a dedicated deep dive on one of the principles.
This program aims to cultivate women on their personal growth journey while inspiring them to connect and share with others. The goal of each session is to encourage personal growth while learning from and supporting others. Sessions are led by weVENTURE Executive Director, Kathryn Rudloff, and feature a diverse group of successful women business leaders from the Space and Treasure Coasts as guest speakers and panelists. Participants learn from these inspiring women as they share their own stories and leadership lessons.
Now more than ever, businesses are looking for tangible ways to diversify their workforce and equip emerging leaders with the tools they need to rise into management roles.
Sponsoring an emerging leader from your business is a great way to invest in her career development and connect her to the weVENTURE and Athena network of women. The Women’s Leadership Enrichment Program aims to provide supplemental ongoing experimental learning and enrichment opportunities during and after participants in the ATHENA Leadership Series learn core curriculum competencies.
This is a nine-month program where individuals attend one session each month. While in-person attendence is suggested, accomodations to Zoom in are always available. Program cost: $700
2023 Brevard Cohort: Meets on the fourth Thursday of the month. Apr. 27; May 25; Jun. 22; Jul. 27; Aug. 24*; Sep. 28; Oct. 26; Nov. 16, December TBD. All sessions are from 8:30am-10:30am at Florida Tech's Center for Aeronautics and Innovation, 1050 W. Nasa Blvd, Melbourne.
2023 Treasure Coast Cohort will meet every other week, March - June. March 2, 16 & 30, April 13 & 27, May 11 & 25, June 8, 22 & 29. Location is TBD.
Thanks to PNC Bank for Sponsoring the Athena program in 2023.
ATHENA participants will have access to:
Participants in the program are also invited to join us at Strong Coffee Strong Women events and our *2023 IMPACT Summit on August 24th at no extra cost.
Limited partial scholarships are made available by generous support from the Zonta Club of Melbourne, PNC Bank and private donors. Please inquire with weVENTURE WBC to learn more.
Please contact us if you are interested. weventure@fit.edu
Invest in your personal growth and development for the equivalent of $70 a month.
Thank you to PNC Bank for sponsoring the 2023 Athena Program
Thank you to the Zonta Club of Melbourne for sponsoring 4 scholarships, so women in the community may participate.
Thank you to Dr. Donna Whittaker for sponsoring 4 scholarships.
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weVENTURE WBC is funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration
As an up-and-coming leader within the Florida Tech community, the skills I learned throughout last year's program have already helped me in advancing my career and creating positive changes within my team.
I left each month's meeting feeling empowered to go out into the community and share the Athena leadership values that lead to more healthy and productive workplaces.
2020 was a challenging year for everyone and having this network of supportive women to connect and share with on a consistent basis each month was a blessing - it could not have been better timing for us to participate in this program!”
“One of the best investments I made in my professional growth was signing up for Athena NextGen. Meeting and connecting with other professional women in our community from all walks of life was really eye opening for me in evaluating how we all share the same struggles, highs, and lows, when it comes to making space for ourselves in the workforce.
Learning the Athena principles helped me navigate new ways to value my strengths and areas of opportunity, but best of all - this experience afforded me the chance to learn from like-minded women who were inspiring, supportive, and genuine.”
“I went into the program just hoping to absorb as much knowledge, tips, and leadership advice as I could; and I left not only with a diverse range of new skills to bring back to my organization but with a community of incredible, empowering women that I know I can continue to turn to and ask for help.
The level of empowering collaboration I witnessed in this program, even in a virtual setting, truly was something I never experienced before. I honestly believe that I am a much better leader today than I was when I first started in the ATHENA program, and I know that my organization is going to benefit from my ability to now make a bigger impact towards our mission.”
“I would highly recommend AthenaNextGen by weVENTURE to any leader. In my experience, this workshop is an interdisciplinary environment of supportive and inspirational women. I made valuable connections and learned skills that will further me in both my professional and personal life.”
Funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration.
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