Athena Center Annual Report 2017-2018

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“ If you’re not a leader on the bench, don’t call yourself a leader on the field. You’re either a leader everywhere or nowhere.”

—Abby Wambach

2017–18 Annual Report



Table of Contents

A Farewell from Kathryn Kolbert 2 About the Athena Center for Leadership Studies 3 Developing a New Generation of Women Leaders 4 Fostering a Global Conversation on Women’s Leadership 8 Athena Film Festival: Challenging Cultural Conventions 15 Entrepreneurs@Athena 19 Advancing Innovative Approaches to Leadership Development 23 Conclusion 25 Our Team 26 Many, Many Thanks 32

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A Farewell from

Kathryn Kolbert,

Athena’s Founding Director Dear Friends, The last nine years have been a great adventure. Thanks so much for joining me during my tenure at the Athena Center. Over the last nine years, we have grown the Center into a truly extraordinary place that educates and inspires the next generation of women leaders, creates innovative professional development programs, and supports a new wave of female entrepreneurs. And of course, our signature program, the Athena Film Festival, has grown into a unique, world-class festival that showcases the stories of women leaders across the globe. Together, we are helping change the way that society views and values women. I have been honored and fortunate to work closely with all of you: the Center’s Leadership Council and Advisory Board, Distinguished Fellows, Film Festival CoChairs, Sponsors, and Host Committee Members, Student and Faculty Advisors, Athena students and alumnae as well as Barnard trustees, alumnae, parents and friends. Your wise counsel and support has enabled the Center to grow and thrive. I am particularly thankful to Connie Williams ’66 who endowed the Directorship of the Center, to Jim Dow and Lucille Zanghi P’10 and Francene Rogers ’67 whose gifts launched the Center, and to Regina Scully whose founding gifts to the Athena Film Festival have enabled the festival to grow and prosper.

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I am also deeply grateful for the opportunity to work with so many inspiring Barnard students. Barnard women regularly dazzle me with their curiosity, wisdom and passion. I am confident that they will use their energy and talents to make a significant difference in the world. Of course, that is the best legacy that I can hope to leave. As you know, I am deeply committed to ensuring that the Athena Center will continue to thrive. Victoria Gordon, Athena’s Chief of Staff, will serve as Acting Director following my departure and will provide the stable foundation the Center needs until a new Director is brought aboard. I am thrilled to continue as the Film Festival’s Co-Founder and Producing Director on a consulting basis. Thank you all again for your tireless support and dedication. I am confident that our paths will cross as we continue to advocate for women and girls.

Kathryn Kolbert Constance Hess Williams ’66 Director The Athena Center for Leadership Studies


About the Athena Center for Leadership Studies Established at Barnard College, a pioneering force in undergraduate women’s education since 1889, the Athena Center is dedicated to advancing a bold new vision of leadership. Our innovative programs: • develop new generations of women leaders, particularly among Barnard students; • create innovative approaches to leadership development; • change what leadership looks like in Hollywood and beyond; • level the playing field for women entrepreneurs; and, • foster scholarship and public dialogue that expands our understanding of leadership. For nearly 10 years, the Center’s talented team has provided a wide range of education, professional development, and public education programs to advance the cultural conversation around what leadership looks like and why we need more women in positions of power and influence.

WHY ARE WE COMMITTED to creating a bold, new vision of leadership? It is simple. With more women leaders, we change society’s understanding of what leaders look like, how they operate, and how they respond to social, political, and economic needs. With more women leaders, communities and organizations will be more innovative, productive, and the successful aspirations of women and girls will rise.

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Developing a New Generation of Women Leaders ATHENA SCHOLARS CREATING CHANGE AND GIVING BACK Building on our momentum from prior years, enrollment in the Athena Scholars Program reached an all-time high during 2017 – 2018, with over 325 students participating in the program. Over a three year period, Athena Leadership Scholars commit to a rigorous curricular and experiential program that features five academic courses, six leadership development skill-based workshops, and a pre-professional practicum. Through this program, students develop and deepen their understanding of their own leadership identity and abilities and engage with a multidisciplinary community of peers committed to leadership development. The classroom and extra-curricular experiences lay a crucial foundation for our senior Scholars when constructing and implementing their senior social action project. Based on the student’s passion to contribute to the greater good, Scholars create a social service, advocacy, or entrepreneurial project with a community partner. Students present their projects to their peers, obtain both positive feedback

and critical response, and then work collaboratively in teams to implement and improve the effectiveness of their projects. Thirty-two seniors successfully completed their social action projects this year and graduated from the Scholars Program. These students launched programs and initiatives that generated tremendous impact both here on campus and in communities across the country and world. For example, Gabriella Sobol and Jessica Reich founded Eat. Pray. Learn, an online resource center and community forum that seeks to promote accessibility and transparency of religious resources for Muslim and Jewish students on Ivy League college campuses. Additionally, Leila Ardehali, founder of MeetHer, created an online networking platform designed specifically to help young, driven businesswomen get their foot in the door. These are only a few examples of the ways in which Athena Scholars are activating their leadership while creating real and lasting change across a diversity of issues. Some of the students plan to continue their projects on a full or part-time basis following graduation.

“ I like that I can affect some sort of change in my community and affect as many people as possible. Athena provides practical experience creating social change that’s unique to the program and, honestly, to Barnard on the whole.” — Brooke Levy ’20

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SKILL-BUILDING LEADERSHIP LAB PROGRAM CONTINUES TO GROW Open to all Barnard students, Athena Leadership Lab workshops enable students to discover, explore, and practice tangible leadership skills. Taught by seasoned facilitators and subject matter experts in their fields, these interactive workshops provide hands-on training based on the Athena CORE10TM, a set of leadership attributes and skills that are particularly important for women: ambition, vision, courage, communication, entrepreneurial spirit, leverage, collaboration, negotiation, resilience, and advocacy. The Leadership Lab sessions include opportunities to network with others and share secrets of success in an informal setting. Over 350 students attended the 17 workshops this year, with the majority taking more than one.

NEW STUDENT PROGRAM INITIATIVES Tell Your Story with The Moth Last Fall, leaders from The Moth’s Education Program came to campus to lead a lively, on-your-feet workshop to help Barnard students craft their own Moth stories. Participants shared their own true stories, received on-the-spot feedback, and strategized on how their Moth stories can serve them in leadership contexts such as job interviews, proposals, and building their personal missions.

A SAMPLE OF OUR LEADERSHIP LABS Innovative Tools For Social Impact A friendly, interactive crash course on utilizing cutting-edge design and thinking tools, such as participatory design, power mapping and rapid prototyping, to expose complex social realities and appropriately define social impact. Am I Really Qualified? Overcoming Imposter Syndrome Focusing on the unique power and perils of being a young woman in the workforce, this lab offered tips on how to make the absolute most out of every job. Crafting a Pitch Students learned how to craft a dynamic entrepreneurial pitch using storytelling skills and team-building exercises. Participants had a chance to practice their pitch, provide feedback and leave with a toolkit of practical communication skills. Telling Your Story on Video These days video is the new calling card. In this engaging workshop, students gained skills for using video to tell their story for job applications, social media and other applications. Some of the topics covered were improvisation, delivery, overcoming nervous habits, looking your best on camera and how to enjoy the process. Resilience in Work and Life: Overcome Obstacles to Your Success Strategies for students on how to recover if things go wrong and how to become more resilient to achieve success despite change and challenging conditions. Keeping Your $20s in Your 20s This workshop offered the basics of money management and the knowledge, tools, and good habits needed to make educated and responsible financial decisions for students in their 20s, 30s and beyond. Communicating for Impact in the Age of Digital Storytelling This interactive workshop examined the six fundamental building blocks of dynamic communication and demonstrated how people can use them to influence others in a meaningful way.

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netWERK The Athena Student Advisory Board (SAB) set out to eliminate the highpressure networking they, and their peers, had experienced in usual cookie-cutter networking events. In order to create a space for alumnae and current students to interact naturally, the SAB invited 12 Barnard alums from HBO Docs and Films, Citibank, The Office of the NYC Mayor, Gerson Lehrman Group, and WNET NYC for a night of casual but professionally-based roundtable conversation. Thank you to all those who participated. Bloomberg Site Visit This year, we took a small group of Barnard women to the Bloomberg headquarters for a unique off-campus leadership lab and networking opportunity. The excursion consisted of two parts: a tour of the Bloomberg offices followed by a leadership

panel and Q&A. Barnard alumnae and other women leaders at Bloomberg conversed with our group about their experiences at work and provided unique insight and advice to students thinking about their own leadership journeys and potential career paths. Athena Talks in partnership with TedEd In partnership with the Education Department of TED, Athena Scholars received exclusive access to TED training materials. This unique opportunity allowed students to perfect their storytelling skills while helping TED-Ed pilot their training module for college students. Participants visited the TED offices to meet with TED staff and the program culminated in each student delivering a TED-style talk in front of a live audience. Recordings of these Athena Talks are available on our website: athenacenter.barnard.edu/conferences.

“ Athena has had the single biggest impact on me during my time at Barnard. The program and its incredible staff have shaped me into the woman I am today. I’ve learned so many valuable tips and life lessons from the Leadership Labs, PowerTalks, and Athena partnerships.” —Alyssa Hsing ’19

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“ I love the commonalities that the Athena Scholars brings together. From English to STEM majors, we are all united under the common purpose that we want to generate meaningful social impact.” — Simran Shah ’19 Financial Fluency for Seniors This half day seminar tailored to seniors provided Barnard women with an opportunity to learn more about financial health and prepare them for life after Barnard. Recent alumnae joined us for a panel on valuable tips about real-world finances and money management. Seniors attended workshops that helped demystify credit cards, apartment rental processes, budgeting and the salary/benefits negotiation process. Thank you to our friends in the Beyond Barnard office, Human Resources, and the Office of Financial Aid for helping coordinate this event. Athena Global Fellowship Program This year the Athena Center announced the new Athena Global Fellowship Program. The fellowships provide Barnard women with unique exposure to women’s leadership in a global context. The Athena Global Fellowship Program sent two students abroad to intern for the summer. Natasha Cox ’19 was placed in the Office of H.E. Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, President of Malta, and Ishrat Aishee ’20 was placed with Camfed, the Campaign for Female Education. Thank you to our friends at the Council of Women World Leaders for helping us build this meaningful program.

SUMMER FELLOWSHIPS ENABLE STUDENTS TO DEVELOP LEADERSHIP SKILLS IN THE WORKPLACE In 2018, the Athena Center offered four fellowship programs: The Athena Summer Fellowship Program, the Williams Program for Women in Politics, the Silberstein Public Service Internship Fund, and the Athena Global Fellowship. Through these opportunities, 15 students gained insight on leadership styles and strategies in the public and private sectors, developed personal leadership and professional skills, and created support networks with other young female professionals. The 2018 summer fellows interned in such places as e-commerce site Bluefly, Astia, a venture capital firm that solely invests in female founded and run ventures, the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, and political consulting and strategy firm, Precision Strategies. Scholars lived together on campus and met with a consortia of female leaders, including Barnard President Sian Beilock and Provost Linda Bell, to reflect on their experience.

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Fostering a Global Conversation on Women’s Leadership DISTINGUISHED FELLOWS PROGRAM: INSPIRING THE NEXT GENERATION OF LEADERS The Distinguished Fellows Program brings to campus renowned leaders from the most senior levels of the private and public sectors. Our Distinguished Fellows, each of whom has a demonstrated commitment to the advancement of women, share their expertise and experience with the Barnard community. This year, the Fellows participated in our PowerTalk series, met with students in Athena’s Senior Seminar and Women and Leadership classes, hosted students at their workplace for site visits, and developed programs that advance leadership. Welcome to our newest class of Fellows:

2017 – 2019 CLASS Carol Evans

Founder and President Emeritus of Working Mother Media (WMM) and CEO of her own consulting firm, Carol Evans Enterprises. Carol’s involvement with Working Mother magazine dates back to 1978 when she played a pivotal role in launching a new magazine for a new market of young moms who wanted the joy of a family and the challenge of a career. She led its fast-

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paced growth for over a decade, ramping up to 3 million readers and capturing the support of Madison Avenue. In 1986 she created the legendary Working Mother 100 Best Companies, still the most important corporate benchmark for the advancement of women. Between 1989 and 2001, Evans ran two media companies, first as President of Stagebill, a magazine for the performing arts and then as COO of Chief Executive Group, serving Fortune 500 CEOs with publications and events. In 2001, Evans bought Working Mother magazine with venture capital backing, forming Working Mother Media and becoming the first woman and mom to own the 21 year old publication. In 2002 she launched the Best Companies for Women of Color

to create a national dialogue on race and gender in the workplace. Over the next 15 years she launched other key initiatives for women in the law, hourly workers, small business owners and top executive women. In 2006 Evans acquired Diversity Best Practices to help corporations engage more deeply in the advancement of people of color, LGBTQ employees and people with disabilities. Evans then took Working Mother Media global, hosting women’s conferences in China, India, South Africa, Brazil, Canada, and France. In 2006 Penguin published Evans’ award winning book This Is How We Do It: The Working Mother’s Manifesto, helping working moms to find joy in their busy lives and urging companies to support


them with best practices and policies. Evans has frequently been honored for her work and career. In 2015 Carol retired from WMM to co-found Executive Women for Hillary (now EW4Her), a national organization that gets professional women out of their offices and into the political fray on behalf of progressive candidates.

Jehmu Greene

Jehmu is an award-winning progressive media and advocacy strategist, proud Texan and recent candidate for Chair of the Democratic National Committee. As a Fox News Political Analyst, Jehmu

defends progressive values and policies on the network. She co-founded Define American with Jose Antonio Vargas, an initiative that works to elevate the conversation on immigration reform and is a founding board member of VoteRunLead, an organization credited with recruiting and training more than 15,000 women to run for political office. Previously she served as president of WakaWaka, a global social enterprise bringing solar power to people living without access to electricity; president of Rock the Vote, where under her leadership young voter turnout had the highest increase ever recorded in between two presidential elections; director of women’s outreach and Southern political director at the Democratic National Committee; president of the Women’s Media Center and Executive Director of Texas Young Democrats. She has worked on over 20 political campaigns and served as an advisor and national surrogate for Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign.

Manmeet Kaur

Manmeet founded City Health Works in 2012 to create a business case for the integration of local health coaches into the U.S healthcare system. Prior, she was an advisor to the One Million Community Health Worker Campaign and worked on community health and workforce initiatives in South Africa (Mamelani Projects), India (LabourNet) and NYC (Brennan Center for Justice). In her time abroad Manmeet saw the potential for reverse innovation from lower cost health systems when applied to the U.S. Manmeet’s work has been featured in PBS Newshour,

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The Economist, NPR, Generations, the NEJM, the Commonwealth Fund, Brookings Institution, NationSwell, and more. She earned an MBA from Columbia University and a BA from Barnard College. Manmeet is currently a Janice Nittoli Practitioner Fellow at the Urban Institute and a Draper Richard Kaplan Social Entrepreneur; she has formerly served as a PopTech Social Innovation Fellow, a GLG Social Impact Fellow, and a Third Millennium Human Rights Fellow. She serves on the Board of the Sikh Coalition, a civil rights organization. Manmeet was born and raised in New York; she lives in New York with her husband, two energetic sons and mother.

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Kavita Ramdas

Kavita is a leading advocate for gender justice and respected thought commentator on critical global and domestic challenges. She is passionate about advancing equitable development, entrepreneurship, gender and racial equity and social change philanthropy. Kavita is an independent consultant and public speaker, who recently completed her tenure at the Ford Foundation as the Senior Advisor on Global Strategy where she worked to integrate an equity lens across all programs and develop a global philanthropy framework. Prior to this Kavita was based

in New Delhi as the Ford Foundation’s Representative for India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Under her leadership the Foundation decisively addressed the crisis of sexual violence in South Asia, built partnerships with local philanthropic leaders and successfully weathered challenges facing civil society. Before joining the Ford Foundation, Kavita spent two years at Stanford University, as a Visiting Scholar with the Center on Philanthropy & Civil Society and the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law. As founding Executive Director of the Program on Social Entrepreneurship, she connected grassroots activists, philanthropy, academia and the private sector through a platform for social entrepreneurs to share ideas on democracy and civil society that continues to thrive at the university.


From 1996 to 2010 Kavita served as President and CEO of the Global Fund for Women. Under her leadership the Fund exponentially grew in assets becoming the world’s largest public foundation for women’s rights. The Fund supported women in more than 170 countries providing access to financial capital that fueled innovation and Kavita played key roles in philanthropic and policy circles. Her vision, drive and management skills inspired individual and institutional donors to invest in education, defend reproductive rights, end violence and ensure women’s economic independence. Kavita complements her global experience with many years spent combating poverty in the United States during her tenure as a Program Officer at the Chicago-based John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Her work in community development and economic justice culminated in leading a delegation of community organizers to the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China. She also supported population and reproductive health and rights work in India, Brazil, Mexico and Nigeria. Currently Kavita serves on the boards of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and Women’s Link Worldwide, the Global Agenda Council of the World Economic Forum, the Investment Committee of the C&A Foundation and as an Advisor to Room to Read, Trickle Up and the America India Foundation. She is a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute.

2016 – 2018 CLASS

Saru Jayaraman

Irin Carmon

A former national reporter at MSNBC, Carmon reported for digital and TV on gender, politics, and the law, with a special emphasis on reproductive rights and the Supreme Court. She is also the co-author of Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg (2015), which spent three months on the New York Times bestseller list. Currently, Carmon is a Visiting Fellow in the Program for the Study of Reproductive Justice at Yale Law School. Irin came to campus in April to deliver her PowerTalk. In conversation with Kathryn Kolbert, Irin discussed her news coverage of women’s rights, her career as a bestselling author, and what being a leader means to her. Irin addressed her personal experience researching the evolution of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the inception of the “Notorious RBG,” a “counterintuitive hero” for feminists. Irin spoke to her strategies as a progressive journalist during an age of alternative facts and deep partisanship.

After 9/11, together with displaced World Trade Center workers, Jayaraman co-founded Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC United), which has grown to include more than 18,000 worker members, 200 employer partners, and several thousand consumer members in a dozen states nationwide. Additionally, she is the Director of the Food Labor Research Center at University of California, Berkeley. Jayaraman is dedicated to raising the minimum wage for restaurant workers and fighting for workplace justice in the restaurant industry. During her PowerTalk on November 21, 2017 Saru discussed why she co-founded the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United and her current work as co-Director. Her PowerTalk addressed the effects of the restaurant industry, led by the National Restaurant Association trade lobby, on the economy and poverty. Her impassioned remarks spoke about the 70% of tipped workers in America, women who live off their tips and often experience unwanted sexual advances.

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“ Minerva Tantoco is a woman leader who embodies confidence and purpose: she has established a stellar reputation for herself because of her expertise in the field, and cunning ability to always be looking for a way to improve the world around her through technology and collaboration… Ultimately, what can be drawn from [Minerva’s] PowerTalk is that successful leadership comes from adaptability, responsiveness, fearlessness, and taking advantage of opportunities, which should not and do not have to be tied to gender. ” — Melina Dunham ’17

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Shiza Shahid

Minerva Tantoco

Shahid grew up in Pakistan as a vocal advocate for social change. She co-founded the Malala Fund with Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, and led the organization as its founding CEO. She is currently focused on supporting missiondriven startups, whose financial success makes the world a better place, through her seedstage VC Fund and Platform, NOW Ventures. She is an entrepreneur, investor, and women’s rights advocate who is passionate about leveraging philanthropy, venture capital, technology, and media to drive scalable social impact.

Focused on applied innovation, both creating future-facing tech strategies and implementing them to build great businesses that make strategy into reality, Tantoco recently joined the Future/Perfect Ventures. She most recently served as New York City’s first-ever Chief Technology Officer responsible for developing and implementing a citywide strategy on technology and innovation.

We welcomed Shiza on January 31, 2017 for her PowerTalk discussing the importance of economic empowerment and the role financial control has over ending gender inequalities. The room was at full capacity, as eager attendees listened to Shiza discuss her life as an activist in Pakistan, her undergraduate experience at Stanford University, and her experience meeting and working with Malala Yousafzai.

We are also grateful to Minerva for hosting one of our Women in Leadership classes at her office in midtown and serving as a guest lecturer. The students enjoyed the opportunity to experience a tech incubator first hand and several students stayed on-site after class to participate in Microsoft’s National Entrepreneur Week event.


Jacki Zehner

In 1996, Zehner became the youngest woman and first female trader to be invited into the partnership of Goldman Sachs. In 2002, she became a founding partner of Circle Financial Group, a private wealth management organization consisting of a small number of women committed to managing their families’ assets and philanthropic undertakings. In 2012, Zehner became Chief Engagement Officer and President of Women Moving Millions, a non-profit organization with the bold mission of mobilizing unprecedented resources for the advancement of women and girls. Today, as President of The Jacquelyn and Gregory Zehner Foundation, Jacki funds and works with a variety of organizations and initiatives, with a particular focus on women’s rights, women’s foundations, movement building, and media. During her PowerTalk, Jacki addressed the lack of women’s economic empowerment in terms of philanthropic giving as well as her career in finance as the first female trader to make partner at Goldman Sachs. Jacki questioned the lack of women in senior positions in financial services and how her decision to become more than a passive giver and board member led her to become Chief Engagement Officer and President of Women Moving Millions.

ATHENA LEADERSHIP COUNCIL We extend a heartfelt thanks to our esteemed Athena Leadership Council members for their support this year. Our Leadership Council members are senior leaders from the private and public sectors, who share a deep commitment to advancing women’s leadership. By serving as strategic advisors and global ambassadors for the Center, they leverage their experience, expertise, and philanthropy to advance our mission and vision. They serve as guest lecturers, mentors, and advisors to Athena Scholars, and are influential members of the Barnard community and our leadership development efforts. To all of our individual and corporate members, and especially to our Co-Chairs Jyoti Menon ’01 and Claire Newman, thank you for your unwavering support. New council members are invited to join twice per year. To learn more about joining this inspiring community, please contact Victoria Gordon at vgordon@barnard.edu or 212-854-1520.

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2018 Athena Film Festival: Challenging Cultural Conventions This year, at the Eighth Annual Athena Film Festival, more than 6,500 people came together February 22 – 25 to celebrate community, to issue calls for action and change, and to amplify the voices, stories, and collective power of women. This year’s festival was special in many ways with larger audiences, more diverse programming, increased artistic engagement, wider community participation, and a palpable elevated sense of energy and empowerment. In the past year, with the emergence of #MeToo and Time’s Up, the country experienced a great shift in the cultural narrative. Here at Athena, we are proud of our track record of highlighting the need for gender parity and demonstrating why women’s leadership is crucial to making systemic change. Together we are elevating the voices and stories of fierce and fearless women leaders. We look forward to continuing this work — redefining narratives and challenging preconceived ideas about what leadership looks like. Founded as a joint project of the Athena Center and Women and Hollywood, this engaging weekend of films and panels highlights women’s leadership in real life and the fictional world. Thank you to our more than 6,500 attendees, our nearly 100 community partners, our network of more than 300 volunteers, and our sponsors, co-chairs and Honorary Host Committee members for making this Festival possible.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THIS YEAR’S CELEBRATION OF FIERCE AND FEARLESS WOMEN LEADERS: On the evening of Wednesday, February 21, we held a kick-off event for LUNAFEST, which celebrates, showcases, and champions women in film. This year, LUNAFEST began raising funds for our friends at Chicken & Egg Pictures, and we were delighted to host the kick-off event at Barnard. During the festival, we screened 46 films including 17 features, 13 documentaries, and 16 shorts, which received great reviews from packed audiences. Many of the screenings included Q&A sessions with filmmakers or the subjects of the films, including the unforgettable standing ovation received by former Prime Minister of New Zealand, Helen Clark, following the international premiere screening of My Year With Helen. On Thursday afternoon, we were thrilled to host a screening of the premiere of the first episode of season three of UnReal, the critically acclaimed series from Lifetime’s A+E

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Network. We were delighted to share this sneak peek with our audiences and welcome Shiri Appleby, Craig Bierko, Stacy Rukeyser and Sarah Gertrude Shapiro for a lively Q&A following the screening. The festival opened on Thursday evening with a standing room–only screening of Battle of the Sexes, which tells the story of tennis legend Billie Jean King’s famous 1973 match against Bobby Riggs. King hosted a Q & A session following the film, and together with six-time national champion fencer Margaret Lu CC’17 discussed the impact of Title IX, the importance of representation and equality in sports, and King’s hopes for a new generation of activists. Saturday evening featured a packed screening of our Centerpiece film, MANKILLER. The film was followed by a conversation with director Valerie RedHorse Mohl, executive producer Gale Anne Hurd, and journalist and activist Gloria Steinem. Ann Hornaday from the Washington Post moderated the lively conversation.

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As part of our efforts to advance and promote the stories of women leaders in STEM, we hosted a sold-out screening of Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story in partnership with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Following the screening, we were delighted to welcome filmmakers Cherien Dabis, Alexandra Dean, Lydia Dean Pilcher, Jenny Halper, and Ginny Mohler to the festival for a fruitful conversation on how we can do more to bring these often untold stories of women in STEM to life. In this moment of #MeToo and Time’s Up, we took the opportunity to bring together an esteemed panel of women to discuss what’s next in this moment of activism: our second annual Town Hall — From Outrage To Power. Women for Women International founder Zainab Salbi moderated the session, which centered on being an ally and staying accountable on important issues across all industries, especially low-paying, entry-level, and service jobs that are typically staffed by marginalized and vulnerable populations of mostly women. Salbi noted that while the #MeToo movement has seen many men removed from their positions of power, the


culture that enables harassment and assault remains. Athena Distinguished Fellows Saru Jayaraman and Jehmu Greene participated alongside Gillian Thomas from the ACLU and Mallika Dutt the founder of Breakthrough. Additionally, this year our Activism Booth served as a call to action for those feeling inspired by our films. We invited different organizations such as The Center for Reproductive Rights, VoteRunLead, ROC United and PGA Diversity to display materials about their organizations, current campaigns, and information on how people can get involved. Inspiring Award Winners: The Athena Film Festival Awards Reception sponsored by Amazon Studios took place on Friday night. We honored two-time Academy Award®winning documentary filmmaker Barbara Kopple with the Laura Ziskin Lifetime Achievement Award. BAFTA winning writer and director Amma Asante received the Athena Award, and cabaret artist and actress Bridget Everett was honored with the Inaugural Breakthrough Award. Director, producer, and screenwriter J. J. Abrams received the 2018 Athena Leading Man Award. We also surprised our very own Kathryn (Kitty) Kolbert with an award in recognition of her leadership of the

Festival. It was a wonderful and inspiring evening in celebration of women leaders.

Educational Programs Athena continues to place great emphasis on increasing opportunities for talented women in film. We provide a robust slate of educational programs throughout the festival to support women and equip them with the essential skills and networks they need to succeed in the industry. In 2018, our educational programming included: • A MasterClass on Producing and Writing for Television with Alexa Junge ’85, accomplished showrunner, screenwriter, TV writer, and producer; • Four panels (1) the female gaze, (2) social media and branding for filmmakers, (3) spotlight on women writing films on STEM, (4) revising the film canon; and • For the second year we hosted a screenwriting lab for women with our partners at IRIS, which provided four emerging female screenwriters the opportunity to attend a two-day intensive with one-on-one sessions with experienced mentors, and peerto-peer feedback.

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Media Coverage: Over 273 million media impressions, notable and in-depth coverage in such publications as Hollywood Reporter, Variety, New York Times, Wall St. Journal, and more than 1 million unique web visits 55,000+ social media followers Many, Many Thanks: We were thrilled to have an illustrious group of festival Co-Chairs: Julie Parker Benello ’92, Debra Martin Chase, Ava DuVernay, Geralyn Dreyfous, Paul Feig, Sherry Lansing, Jon Levin P’13, Dylan McDermott P’18, Sheila Nevins ’60, David Oyelowo, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Susan Rovner ’91, Regina K. Scully, and Rachel Weisz and a diverse group of festival Save the Date: sponsors, honorary host 9th annual festival committee members, and in-kind contributors. Many will be February 28 – March 3, thanks to the festival’s Founding Sponsor, Artemis 2019. Rising Foundation, Regina K. Scully, Founder & CEO, Premiere Sponsor Amazon Studios, and the numerous companies, foundations and individuals who have contributed their time and financial resources to the festival. A heartfelt thank

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you as well to the 300+ volunteers, who helped execute a flawless weekend. A complete list of all sponsors and donors is listed on page 34.

SUMMER ACTIVITIES This year, we launched a lab for 18 writers in Los Angeles that was sponsored by Lifetime. Partnering with IRIS and Stephens College MFA in Television and Screenwriting program, our three-day program focused on emerging female writers in both television and film. The lab included one-on-one mentoring sessions pairing participants with established screenwriters, a mock television writer’s room, and opportunities for peer-to-peer feedback. One day focused on film, another on TV, and an industry day with panels of managers and showrunners. Director Gina Prince-Bythewood (Love and Basketball, Beyond the Lights, Cloak and Dagger) joined us for a conversation. While in Los Angeles, we also held our annual cocktail party. The party is a great opportunity for Athena to catch up with our dedicated supporters, partners, friends and featured filmmakers. Thank you to everyone that came out to celebrate with us.


Entrepreneurs @Athena Athena’s entrepreneurship programs introduce select high-school and Barnard students to entrepreneurship, enable them to experiment with entrepreneurship through internships and hands-on work experience, and provide resources and mentorship for those young women who have or are launching their own ventures. In the process, we hope to create successful pedagogical models for young women and to build the Athena community to include dedicated entrepreneurs who are willing to share their expertise with talented Barnard women.

Athena Digital Design Agency: Founded in 2014, the Athena Digital Design Agency (ADDA) seeks to improve technical literacy at Barnard and provide an opportunity for students to earn money and gain work experience by designing websites for clients. They accomplish this by offering classes in HTML/CSS, Javascript, and design principles for the web, which are open to all Barnard students free of charge. Students who complete the introductory classes are then invited to join the student-run agency, which designs and builds websites for small businesses and nonprofits. Practical, efficient, and tailored

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to the modern college student, ADDA is a perfect example of how women can learn coding skills, immediately apply them in the real world, and get paid for their talent. During this academic year, nearly 150 took advantage of these classes which are offered free of charge to Barnard students. Students appreciate that ADDA’s courses are interactive and in a low-pressure environment; they feel comfortable asking questions and supported in troubleshooting issues they may encounter. For the JavaScript course, taught by Adam Driggers, students “liked that [they] could learn a new programming language without the stress and demand of a Columbia computer science course.” The Athena Digital Design hosted several events this year to build community among Barnard students who are interested in coding. Each semester they held a Hackathon to allow students to work on projects together and troubleshoot challenges. They hosted a combined information session and graduation event each semester to recognize the finished

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websites of the students in the coding classes and allow prospective students to see the outcome. The ADDA Student Advisory Board also organized a mixer with the Athena Scholar Student Advisory Board to ensure that women in leadership roles in the Athena community are collaborating and building community. Members of the agency worked successfully with a variety of clients to build websites and provide web design support. If you are interested in hiring members of the Athena Digital Design Agency for your project, please email info@ athenadigitaldesign.org. Women Entrepreneurs Leadership Forum: Hosted in conjunction with the Eugene Lang Entrepreneurship Center at the Columbia Business School, this half day event facilitated dialogue between aspiring and current student entrepreneurs at Barnard, Columbia College, Columbia Business School, and successful women alumnae entrepreneurs—founders, investors, and thought leaders. We were delighted to welcome Avani Patel, Founder and CEO of TrendSeeder as our keynote speaker


to deliver remarks on the importance of resilience. Following the keynote, we hosted two panel sessions on Women Entrepreneurs in STEM and Non-Traditional Career Paths and Business Models. Thank you to the more than 100 women who joined us for this inspiring afternoon of networking and skill-building. A particular shoutout to Amal Abid (BC ’17), Pooja

Badlani (BC ’01), and Krista Suh (BC ’09) for coming back to campus to share their thoughts and experiences with our audience. A thank you as well to Esther Ma for her generous gift which made this event possible and to Lauren Zahm BC ’20, our student program coordinator, for her tireless efforts.

INSPIRING THE NEXT GENERATION OF FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS Entrepreneurs-in-Training: In collaboration with Barnard’s Office of Pre-College Programs, Athena developed Entrepreneurs-in-Training (EiT), an intensive, 11-day boot camp for a diverse group of 25-30 high school juniors and seniors from across country and across the globe. The program guides teens through the development of an idea, customer research, product design and development, and marketing. At the conclusion of the program, the students pitch their product to successful leaders in the startup community. Thank you to our talented team of instructors, mentors, story coaches, and pitch competition panelists for their support and invaluable contributions this year. A special thank you also goes to the teams at Hanky Panky and Compass, who each hosted students for on-site tours of their facilities.

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Advancing Innovative Approaches to Leadership Development The Athena Center continues to develop and deliver customized programs for a range of clients in the corporate and nonprofit sectors that not only increase the leadership capacity of talented women, but also generate insights about how workplace culture, policies, and internal dynamics affect women’s advancement. These insights inform our recommendations about ways to improve leadership development programming and create a culture that supports a robust pipeline of women leaders at all levels. To assess organizational and individual barriers to advancement that may exist for female employees, we have developed an omnibus survey — the Athena Appraisal — that organizations and companies can use to better understand their workforce and culture. Data collected through the survey is synthesized by our team to help the organizational leadership recognize the company’s strengths and deficits. From there, we work together to develop an appropriate intervention plan that allows organizations to become truly inclusive — fully leveraging the talents of a diverse workforce. With our help, these organizations are better prepared to design and implement meaningful change and ensure an equitable work environment for women moving forward.

workshops and activities to a full day, in-depth, off-site conference. Individual trainings and workshops are designed to deepen and expand individual leadership skills and strategies; larger programs are designed to increase the leadership identity and capacity of high-potential mid- and senior-level female leaders and to create widespread recognition of women’s leadership as a competitive advantage across the company. This year, we were particularly delighted to provide a series of trainings for our friends at the Columbia Global Center in Rio De Janiero as part of their new initiative: the Women’s Leadership Network in Brazil. This year-long program provides training and strategic networking opportunities to 20 mid-senior professionals from Brazil, with the goal of creating a growing network of women who will contribute to the transformation of public service in Brazil. Selected participants came from diverse sectors for example, Helena De Rezende who is Police Chief of Rio de Janeiro, Liana Issa Lima who is a senior legislative counsel member at the Brazilian House of Representatives, and Gabriela Gouveia Guedes Loureiro Ruberg who is a division head at the Brazilian Central Bank. Athena was delighted to provide three modules of leadership development training to this inspiring group.

The format of this program can vary from a quarterly series of 1 ½ – 2 hour

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At Athena, we are committed to advancing a broad and bold understanding of what it means to lead, to collaborate, and to excel. Our work has never been more important, and we are immensely grateful to our extraordinary network of staff, friends, supporters, partners, and sponsors that make our programs possible. Your wisdom, creativity, and commitment to our mission allow us to create new ways to advance women’s leadership within the Barnard community and extends far beyond. While we acknowledge the amount of work left to do, we are grateful for the impact we have created thus far. Please join us in extending our deepest thanks to Kathryn Kolbert, our founding director, for her visionary leadership during the first nine years of the Center. We would not be where we are today without her tenacity, passion, and commitment to women’s leadership development. We are grateful for the foundation she built and look forward to all the next decade will bring.


Our Team

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CENTER STAFF Kathryn Kolbert, the Constance Hess Williams ’66 Director of the Athena Center served as the Founding Director of the Athena Center from the fall of 2019 to the spring of 2018. In 1992, Kolbert argued the landmark case of Planned Parenthood v. Casey before the U.S. Supreme Court and has been credited with saving Roe v. Wade with what CNN’s Legal Correspondent Jeffrey Toobin has called “one of the most audacious litigation strategies in Supreme Court history.” Before joining Barnard, Kolbert was the President and CEO of People For the American Way and its Foundation. For ten years, she oversaw a program on law and American life at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Public Policy Center, where she created the awardwinning NPR radio program Justice Talking, and its educational website, justicelearning.org. From 1992 to 1997, she directed domestic litigation and public policy for the Center for Reproductive Rights, where she was a Co-Founder and Vice-President. Recognized by The National Law Journal as one of the “100 Most Influential Lawyers in America” and by The American Lawyer as one of 45 public-interest lawyers “whose vision and commitment are changing lives,” Kolbert has also served as the State Coordinating Counsel of the ACLU’s Reproductive Freedom Project in New York and as a Staff Attorney with both the Women’s Law Project and Community Legal Services in Philadelphia.

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CENTER STAFF

Victoria Gordon, Chief of Staff at the Athena Center, will serve as Acting Director of the Center beginning July 2018. Among her many duties, Gordon oversees the day-to-day operations of the Center, providing strategic oversight of student programs and the Center’s leadership development and entrepreneurship work. She also provides critical fundraising and management support to the Athena Film Festival team. Gordon sits on the President’s Council, the Operations and Management Group of the College, and the Joint Faculty and Administrators’ Benefits Committee. Gordon has ten years’ experience in operations, development, and event management working for organizations including The Resolution Project, Room to Grow, Community Renewal Team and the Wildlife Conservation Society. Gordon holds an MSc in Democracy and Comparative Politics from University College London and graduated with honors and an MA in International Relations from the University of St. Andrews.

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Sarit Abramowicz is the Administrative Director of Student Programs at the Athena Center. She oversees the Athena Scholars Program, the Athena Digital Design Agency, Summer Fellowships and all other student related initiatives. Prior to this role she also supported the management of Entrepreneurs@Athena where she worked with the student-run business, Athena Digital Design Agency (ADDA), promoted the Athena Pledge and assisted with the Mastermind program. Before working with the Athena Center, Abramowicz directed the Women’s International Leadership Program at International House for seven years. In this role she was responsible for curriculum design, student advising, organizing logistics and facilitating workshops and panels. Abramowicz has a Master’s degree from New York University in International Education and a Bachelor’s degree from Binghamton University in Philosophy, Politics & Law and Spanish.

Opal H. Bennett is the Programmer for the Athena Film Festival, where she is responsible for curating the program of feature length and short films. After several years in legal practice, Opal now programs a mixture of short, feature and virtual reality films for several festivals — Athena, Nantucket and Tribeca. She has also served on panels, juries and grant committees. A Columbia Law grad, Opal holds a Masters in Media Studies from the LSE, and received her B.A. from New York University.


Skye Cleary, Ph.D., MBA, is an Adjunct Lecturer at Athena Center for Leadership Studies, teaching Women in Leadership. A philosopher and author of ‘Existentialism and Romantic Love’ (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015). She also teaches at the City University of New York, and previously at the New School of Psychotherapy and Counselling (London), and the New York Public Library. Cleary is an advisory board member of Strategy of Mind (a global executive learning firm), an associate editor of the American Philosophical Association’s blog, a certified fellow with the American Philosophical Practitioners Association, and co-founder of the Manhattan Love Salon. Previously, she was an international equity arbitrageur and management consultant. Her work has been published with TED-Ed, The Huffington Post, The Conversation, Business Insider, New Republic, ABC Radio National, YourTango, Aeon, Actualise Daily and others.

Erika Guzman is the Student Programs Administrator at the Athena Center. Throughout her career, she has gained extensive experience providing high-level administrative support to senior management. Prior to Athena, she served as the Coordinator of Corporate Security at Forest Laboratories, where she provided a wide range of administrative services including management of logistical details, investigations/ due diligence analysis, project management and handling of sensitive and privileged information. Since joining Athena, Guzman’s passion for women’s leadership has only grown, and is strengthened every day through her interactions with the students and staff at the Center. Guzman earned a Bachelor of Arts in Culture and Deviance Studies from John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

Heather McKee Hurwitz, Ph.D., is a Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Athena Center for Leadership Studies and the Department of Sociology. She teaches Women and Leadership (ACLS 3450) and seminars on Gender and Organizations and Global Activism. Currently, she is writing an article about women and leadership in Occupy. She is revising her dissertation project for publication as a book to be entitled, The 51%: Gender Conflict and Feminist Mobilization in the Occupy Wall Street Movement. In June 2015, McKee Hurwitz completed a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB). She also holds a M.A. in Sociology from UCSB and a B.A. in Sociology from The George Washington University. She was the first American to earn a M.A. in Women and Development Studies from the University of the Philippines Diliman.

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CENTER STAFF

Kristin Molloy is the Operations Manager for the Athena Film Festival, a joint project of the Athena Center and Women and Hollywood. Molloy has spent the past several years producing, managing, and otherwise working numerous film festivals and series including Rooftop Films, Slamdance Film Festival, the Montclair Film Festival, and the Hamptons International Film Festival. Most recently, Molloy also programmed films for the Northside Festival – a music, innovation and film festival that takes place in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Molloy has also produced live concerts and worked on TV pilots.

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Alisa Tchernigova is the Senior Programs Assistant at the Athena Center for Leadership Studies. Alisa has been working in higher education since 2013 in various administrative roles. She is currently pursuing a Master of Science degree in Organizational Leadership because she believes that there is a strong need for more women in leadership. In obtaining this degree, she hopes to help other women realize their potential while expanding on her own. Alisa graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Lehman College. While at Lehman, she was inducted into the Golden Key Honor Society, Psi Chi - the International Honor Society in Psychology, and the Phi Beta Kappa Society. In her spare time she volunteers for Anjellicle Cats Rescue, and is a strong supporter of the “Adopt, Don’t Shop” movement.


CONSULTANTS University, Molina Niño cofounded Entrepreneurs@ Athena at the Athena Center for Leadership Studies, with the mission of leveling the playing field for women entrepreneurs. Nathalie launched her first tech startup at the age of 20.

Nathalie Molina Niño is the CEO of Brava Investments. She is entirely focused on outcomes and is committed to delivering returns to investors while making a catalytic impact on women in the world. A technologist and coder by training, Nathalie is a consummate entrepreneur, and a storyteller at heart. Prior to launching BRAVA, as interim CEO of SELF MADE, Nathalie led the launch of SELF MADE, the company, mobile app, learning platform and NY Times Best Selling book by Telemundo’s former Entertainment president, Nely Galán. In 2015, Nathalie stepped in as interim Chief Revenue Officer of PowerToFly, a startup aimed at closing the gender gap in tech. In 2012, while on sabbatical at Columbia

Molina Niño has advised industry leaders in both the forand non-profit sector ranging from multinationals (Disney, Microsoft, MTV, The Discovery Channel, Mattel), early stage startups (Cranium, Onvia) and non-profits (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, World Affairs Council, Seattle International Film Festival, Athena). She writes and is quoted widely in the media, from best selling books like Tim Ferriss’ 4-Hour Workweek to diverse media outlets ranging from Bitch Magazine to Forbes, Time Inc and CNN Money. Keith Ferrazzi called her a “super-connector” in his updated best-selling classic, Never Eat Alone. Nathalie is the “fuel core of a network that makes it easy for her to tap the resources to get stuff done, and done quickly.”

Melissa Silverstein, the cofounder and Artistic Director of the Athena Film Festival, is the founder and editor of Women and Hollywood, which educates, advocates, and agitates for gender parity across the entertainment industry. An early voice for more women directors, Silverstein speaks widely on women and Hollywood in popular media and at events around the globe. In 2013, she published her first book, In Her Voice: Women Directors Talk Directing, a compilation of over 40 interviews that have appeared on Women and Hollywood. She has conducted marketing campaigns and events for a variety of films, was the founding project director for The White House Project, and the Chief of Staff at the Ms. Foundation for Women.

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Many, Many Thanks Our growth and continued success would not be possible without the generous support of our donors, the wisdom of our advisors and the dedication of our staff, consultants and instructors. We remain thankful to our founding donors, Francene Sussner Rodgers ’67, Constance Hess Williams ’66 and Lucille Zanghi and James Dow P ’10 who enabled us to start the Center and to Constance Hess Williams’ 2011 decision to endow a Chair for the Director of the Athena Center. We extend our gratitude to our active and dedicated Leadership Council, co-chaired by Claire Newman and Jyoti Menon ’01. These Leadership Council members give their time and expertise, serving as mentors, professional development trainers, film festival volunteers and connecting with our Scholars and staff. We are stronger because of the time and talent they donate and we remain deeply grateful for their loyal support. To our committed group of faculty advisors and members of our illustrious Advisory Board, thank you for your guidance, insights, and invaluable support. To all of our friends, partners, sponsors, and donors, thank you for your continued and renewed commitment to our mission. Together we are advancing women’s leadership and fostering a stronger, more empowered generation of Barnard students. For all you have done and continue to do, we are sincerely thankful.

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The Founding Donors of the Athena Center for Leadership Studies

Francene Sussner Rodgers ’67 Constance Hess Williams ’66 Lucille Zanghi and James Dow P ’10

For The Endowment of the Constance Hess Williams Directorship of the Athena Center Constance Hess Williams ’66

Endowment Gifts

Patricia Harrigan ’68 and Peter Nadosy Endowment Fund The Daphne Fodor Philipson ’69 Fund for Women’s Leadership Marina Weitzner Lewin ’80 Internship Fund Carol Krongold Silberstein ’69 and Alan Silberstein Public Service Internship Fund

The Founding Donors of the Financial Fluency Program

Laird Grant Groody ’67 Patricia Harrigan Nadosy ’68 Mollie Rosenthal Memorial Fund Susan Weber ’77

Athena Leadership Council

Jyoti Menon ’01 (Co-Chair) Claire Newman (Co-Chair) Jennifer Allyn P ’20 Glori Cohen P ’14 Dr. Rochelle Cooper ’84 P ’12 Leah Dunaief ’62 Gabrielle Ferrara ’12 Amy Goodfriend Shelby Layne ’13 Marina Lewin ’80 Marley Blue Lewis ’05 Christine McConnell Julie Melwani ’09 Pat Nadosy ’68 Lida Orzeck ’68 Hitha Palepu Daphne Fodor Philipson ’69 Gale Picker

Ambassador Azita Raji ’83 Francene Sussner Rodgers ’67 Ariella Salimpour ’17 Martha Scodro P ’14 Robyn Price Stonehill Marissa Wesely Dr. Margaret Withgott ’76 Lucille Zanghi Anonymous

Athena Center Board of Advisors Terri Austin Kim K. Azzarelli Nancy Barry Dr. Jacqueline K. Barton ’74 Stephanie Bell-Rose Stephanie Berger The Honorable Margot Botsford ’69 Wendy Myers Cambor Jolyne Caruso-Fitzgerald ’81 Ronnie Eldridge ’52 Anne Sutherland Fuchs Ellen Futter ’71 Dr. Helene Gayle ’76 Betsy Gotbaum ’60 Phyllis Grann ’58 Rosabeth Moss Kanter Helene Kaplan ’53 Shelly Lazarus Linda Fayne Levinson ’62 Liz Neumark ’77 Indra Nooyi Anna Quindlen ’74 Merryl Tisch ’77 Sheila Wellington Anne Weisberg Constance Hess Williams ’66 Marie Wilson Melinda Wolfe

Faculty Advisory Board

Belinda Archibong, Assistant Professor of Economics Alexander Cooley, Tow Professor of Political Science Alan Dye, Professor of Economics, affiliate member of Columbia University’s Department of History and Institute of Latin American Studies. Margaret Ellsberg, Senior Lecturer in English

Ross Hamilton, Professor of English, Director, Film Studies Program Brian Mailloux, Professor of Environmental Science Robert McCaughey, Professor of History, Janet H. Robb Chair in the Social Sciences Debra Minkoff, Professor of Sociology, Chair, Department of Sociology Rae Silver, Helene L. and Mark N. Kaplan Professor of Natural & Physical Sciences, Head of the Silver Neurobiology Laboratory Joan Snitzer, Lecturer in Art History and Visual Art David Weiman, Alena Wels Hirschorn ’58 Professor of Economics, Dean for Faculty Diversity and Development Paige West, Professor of Anthropology

Student Advisory Board Natasha Cox ’19 Demme Durrett ’19 Alyssa Hsing ’19 Julia Delgado ’19 Simran Shah ’19 Brooke Levy ’20 Claire Walter ’19 Hannah Welles ’20

Athena Center Program Donors Anastasia Ben-Gurion ’78 Ann B. Bookman ’70 Emma E. de Beus ’13 Nancy Conrad ’69 Katherine Donham ’14 Jessica Farrell ’88 Jami J. Fields ’77 Emily Jones ’17 Tina Leung Leslie McCarver ’73 Marilyn E. Orenstein ’73 Eva Sasson ’14 Francesca Sisk ’16 Joan Smith ’54 Amanda Stibel ’14 Maggie Storino ’02 Kelsey Stratton ’03 Claire Tse ’78 Anna L. Ward ’11

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2018 Athena Film Festival

SPONSORS

GOVERNMENT FUNDING

FOUNDING SPONSOR

Festival Co-Chairs

Julie Parker Benello ’92 Debra Martin Chase Geralyn Dreyfous Ava DuVernay Paul Feig Sherry Lansing Jon Levin Dylan McDermott P’18 Sheila Nevins ’60 David Oyelowo Gina Prince-Bythewood Susan Rovner ’91 Regina K. Scully Rachel Weisz

This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.

PLATINUM LEVEL

The Athena Film Festival is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

SUPPORTERS AND IN-KIND DONATIONS GOLD LEVEL

Honorary Host Committee

Cynthia Bemis Abrams Julie Parker Benello ’92 Glori Cohen P ’14 Elizabeth Cuthrell P’20 Lisa Brenner Devlin ’97 Abigail E. Disney and Pierre N. Hauser Barbara Dobkin P ’92 Wendy Ettinger Jan Lisa Huttner Ann F. Kaplan Lida Orzeck ’68 Nicole Page Gigi Pritzker Cornelia Ravenal Helen Diana (Heidi) Reavis Martha Scodro P ’14 Nancy Stephens Jenny Warbug Jacki Zehner

Dobkin Family Foundation

SILVER LEVEL

BRONZE LEVEL

Ravenal Foundation

ACCOMMODATIONS BY

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Athena Film Festival Crew

Technical Director: Michael Comstock, Indre Recording and Production Public Relations: Clare Anne Darragh, Lina Plath, Clare Anne Darragh, Stephanie Davidson, Emily Maroon and Jeff McBride, Frank PR Barnard Communications: Allison Cooke, Beth Kwon Volunteer Coordinator: Cailley Frank-Lehrer Outreach Coordinator: Avi Edelman Programmer: Opal H. Bennett Hospitality Coordinator: Layna Fisher Web Design: Jen Mazer Ticketing Services Manager: Elias Luna

Barnard Staff Assisting with the Film Festival Lisa Buonaiuto Amanda Gates-Elston Mark Godwin Adrienne Hendy Hogan Green Matt Hamilton David Hopson Goldi Juer Elizabeth Lulla Anthony Otero Jennifer Roesch Katharine Swibold

Leadership Lab Instructors

Ope Bukola Caroline Ceniza-Levine Garance Choko Kira Cooperman Alexandra Dickinson Galia Gichon Barbara Greene Monica McCarthy Nathalie Molina Niño Christine Valenza Shin Erin Vilardi Jovian Zayne

2017 Entrepreneurs-inTraining Bootcamp Pitch Panelists Jimmie Briggs Peta Clarke Joan Fallon Victoria Flores Anthony Frasier Justin Kamine Matt Tolin Cindy Scholz

Instructors

Dominique Aubry Adam Berk Lainie Love Dalby Alexandra Dickinson Angela Lee Frankie LaPace Nathalie Molina Niño Jennifer Shaw Elizabeth Talerman

Student Advisory Board Cassidy Mayeda ’18 Stephanie Rothermel ’18 Sarah Breen ’18 Margaret McCabe ’18 Alice Thum ’19 Roberta Samuel ’19 Arlena McClenton ’19 Tiffany Ming ’19 Hana Fusman ’19 Surbhi Lohia ’19 Eleanor Murguia ’19 Deisy Cedeno ’19 Gabriela Castro ’19 Nishat Chowdhury ’19 Nadia Saleh ’19

Mentors

Jennifer Morrow Eident Diana Franco Hillary Garris Kirsten Magwood Christina Morillo Hitha Palepu Fatima Scipio

Athena Digital Design Agency Founders

Danielle Deluty ’14 Jada Hawkins ’16 Nathalie Molina Niño

Leadership Team

Stephanie Rothermel, Chief Executive Officer Margaret McCabe, Operation FinancialOfficer Cassidy Mayeda, Head of Academy Arlena McClendon, Chief Agency Officer Sarah Breen, Chief Marketing Officer Alice Thum, Head of Admissions

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“ Leadership, from what I have learned, is not static or innate, it grows, it moves, it changes and it is adaptable to you. I thank the Athena Scholars Program for giving me the tools and knowledge to be the leader I have always wanted to be.” — Eliza Solomon ’18


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The Athena Center for Leadership Studies Barnard College 3009 Broadway New York, NY 10027-6598 212.854.1264 athenacenter@barnard.edu athenacenter.barnard.edu facebook.com/barnardathenacenter @barnard_athena


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