From immigrant to international board member

Stories from the Boardroom

The intentional international board member

Athena member Maria Garcia Nielsen is an accomplished international board director, business executive, and advocate for diversity in education and in the workplace. Now in her third act, Maria divides her time between working on international boards, leading and mentoring women, and giving back the gift of education through her council work at Cornell and Wharton. Hear her story on?this week's episode of Third Act.

Meet Athena member Donna Wells, former tech CEO, Fortune 500 CMO & 7x board director?

Donna Wells is a seasoned CEO & CMO who has grown companies from product launch to market leadership positions, serving as CEO of Mindflash Technologies and CMO of Mint.com. She is a board director at Betterment, Mitek Systems, and Walker & Dunlop and a celebrated audit committee chair.

In this our recent blog post,?read Donna’s take?on the important and evolving work of board committees, what to expect your first time walking into the boardroom, and her tips for women looking to join a board.

Coach Insights

What does it mean to have a voice?

Your ability to stand in your truth is directly related to the trust you have within yourself. As Athena Coach Hillary Wicht explains, the more trust we have in ourselves, the more secure we will feel sharing our grounded truth with others.?Listen to her insights?to own the inner game of confidence and stand more strongly in your voice.

The key to clear communication

People often say "I want to be a good leader," or "I wish my presentation had gone better." We use words like good, bad, better, or best all the time without really thinking about them—and without really taking the time to define exactly what we mean. As Deb Elbaum explains in her recent podcast, the key to clear communication is defining these general words. If you want to communicate clearly and precisely, coach others more effectively, and sound like more of a leader,?listen now.

Athena executive coaches: helping you?rise strategically

Athena Alliance Executive Coaches are among the top women leaders in business. Athena’s executive coaches offer our members insights on your path to the boardroom or C-suite; how to tell your story in a more impactful way; how to stand more strongly in your power, identity, and presence as a leader; and how to refine your go-to-market strategy to leverage your network and connections for your next opportunity.

Join Athena?to unlock access to our impressive lineup of coaches.?Athena Accelerators offer the best deal, including?a discounted 8-hour?coaching package.

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News & Updates

Congratulations to our members on their recent achievements

• Abby Kearns?was appointed to the Loft Labs Advisory board
• Ann Lucena?was appointed to the Cerus board
• Isaura Gaeta?was recognized as a?Hispanic Exceptional?Leader by the theboardiQ Hall of Fame
• Fumbi Chima?was appointed to the Ted Baker board
• Kelly Wright?was appointed as President and COO of Gong
• Linda Ho?was appointed as Chief People Officer of Seismic
• Maria Rivas?was recognized as a?Hispanic Exceptional Leader by the theboardiQ Hall of Fame

Welcome new members

Welcome to this week’s new Athena members. They are CIOs, CFOs, CPOs, partners and founding partners, professors, physicians, and leading executives. They come to Athena from leading organizations like Duracell, the State of Colorado, HUMAN, UCSF, and Acrew Capital.

Learn more?about how Athena can help your company's top women leaders succeed and grow their impact.